Breaking Point
by Rusbuster
Summary: Bakugou bullys Midoriya to the point of him taking his advice. BakuDeku. Warnings inside.
1. Fall of Faith

**This is my first My Hero Academia fanfic, inspired by similar fanfics that I've read. I do hope I portrayed the characters correctly, especially Kacchan's colorful vocabulary.**

 **Oh, and there's a suicide attempt here and death. If you're uncomfortable with such topics, do not proceed. It's not a dark fic; it gets fluffy in the end, but that part is still there, so.. I WARNED YOU.**

* * *

"Ka-Kacchan! W-wait!"

Izuku's shaky pleas fell on deaf ears as Katsuki Bakugou, Kacchan, blew up his notebook labeled "No.13" for his own sadistic satisfaction, and threw what's left of it through an open window near him.

Izuku yelped in fear, and hurriedly ran to said window, sticking his head out through it to look for his notebook. Izuku despaired as he discovered his notebook's location, which was on the koi pond below; the notebook was being congregated on by the koi pond's fishes. Izuku started tearing up.

"If you want a quirk so damn badly, just throw yourself off the fucking roof and hope you get one in the next life!" Katsuki snarled at Izuku as the green-haired boy silently cried at "Kacchan's" harsh antics.

 _If you want a quirk so damn badly,_ _just throw yourself off the fucking roof and hope you get one in the next life!_

 _If you want a quirk so damn badly..._

 _..a quirk..._

 _..throw yourself off the fucking roof.._

 _..HOPE YOU GET ONE IN THE NEXT LIFE!_

Katsuki has broken Izuku.

"You know what, Kacchan? You're right."

Izuku slightly turned his face towards Katsuki, showing the corner of his face. A stream of tears is evident on the side of Izuku's face.

"What the fuck are you talking about?!"

"You're right..."

Izuku turned away from the window and faced Katsuki. Izuku's eyes were reddened from all the tears he's currently shedding, creating a steady stream of droplets which then splashed on the floor. What's unsettling, however, is Izuku's forced smile, which sent waves of unease at Katsuki.

"All these years, I just wanted to be your friend, Kacchan. But you didn't just push me away, you bullied me. You beat me, yelled at me, and just because I don't have a quirk. It.. makes me very sad.. and I tried to put up with it.."

Izuku's voice is all shaky from all the emotions he's choking on.

"So.. you know what? For once you said something helpful to me.."

Katsuki was creeped out and confused, but most of all, unnerved.

"What the hell are you getting at, Deku?!"

"You gave me.. helpful advice."

Izuku went away from the window and started walking away towards the classroom door, brushing past Katsuki and his suddenly silent lackeys.

"Wait, what the fuck are you.." Katsuki stared at Izuku in confusion.

Izuku opened the door, and turned to face Katsuki. He still had that unnerving smile on his face, but his tears have subsided.

"It's a win-win situation, Kacchan.. I could get a quirk, you don't have to yell and beat me anymore, and.. most of all.. I can be happy.. you can be happy.."

Izuku proceeded to go out throught the door and closed it behind him. A moment later and Katsuki burst through the door and stomped towards Izuku's direction, glaring at his back.

"Fucking Deku, where the hell are you going?!" Katsuki yelled at Izuku, who was currently ascending the stairs towards the roof. Izuku turned to face Katsuki, now with a completely happy face.

However, there's something a bit off about Izuku's expression; it looked purely happy, but glancing at Izuku's eyes, they looked very depressed; dead. The expression is annoying Katsuki more than it should.

"I'm going to take your advice, Kacchan!" Izuku said to Katsuki cheerily yet broken as he continued walking up the stairs.

Katsuki's lackeys suddenly disappeared from the scene, not wanting to get involved on whatever's going to happen. Regardless, Katsuki chased after Izuku, but angrily.

"Shitty Deku! What the fuck does that mean?!"

Katsuki momentarily froze as his eyes widened, realization hitting him like a truck.

 _If you want a quirk so damn badly,_ _just throw yourself off the fucking roof and hope you get one in the next life!_

The words repeated themselves in Katsuki's thoughts.

 _SHIT!_

Katsuki ran faster towards the roof. On reaching the roof door, he blew it clean off its hinges. In front of him was Izuku, facing him as he stood up on the roof's ledge; he was smiling at him, and a tear left one of his eyes.

"Kacchan.. you'll always be my hero."

Izuku stretched his arms sideways and closed his eyes. The sight sent Katsuki over the edge, eyes wide.

This time, it wasn't anger that Katsuki felt towards Izuku. It was fear. He yelled at the boy and attempted to reach out to him.

"Wait! Fucking Deku!"

Izuku didn't jump, but instead allowed himself to fall gracefully off the school roof, letting gravity do the work. Izuku's face looked.. tranquil.. as he fell.

Katsuki leaped just to hopefully grab a part of Izuku in time, to prevent him from falling. Katsuki stretched his hand towards Izuku, seemingly close to Izuku's leg.

Too late. One second and an inch too late.

Katsuki landed and slightly skidded on the concrete roof pavement, scratching his knee a bit. He dashed over to the ledge to get a view of Izuku, actually hoping the koi pond below would soften his fall.

Unfortunately, Izuku's head came in contact with the concrete pond wall first, which was followed by the sound of a loud thud and crack, then the sounds of splashing water as Izuku went into the pond afterwards.

Katsuki bolted for the pond, and after a few minutes of running down stairwells and hallways, he had reached the pond, which already attracted a small crowd.

"Outta the fucking way!" Katsuki screeched as small explosions erupted from his palms, which dispersed the crowd for him just enough to get through. Izuku was face down on the pond, unmoving. He went up to the edge of the pond and pulled Izuku towards him. Katsuki then lifted him off the pond and onto the pavement. He knelt down and gripped Izuku by his shirt collar, and frantically shook him.

"Wake up you fucking nerd! Wake the fuck up!" Katsuki yelled angrily at Izuku as he felt his eyes well up.

Then he noticed Izuku's face; a dent formed on the top of his head, which profusely leaked blood. His mouth and nose also leaked blood, and his eyes were still closed. Izuku still looked tranquil.

"Is he dead?!" an onlooker gasped.

Katsuki's shaking of Izuku slowed down until he stopped, finally realizing that Izuku will not respond anymore.

HE'S DEAD.

IT'S MY FAULT.

I FUCKING KILLED HIM.

Katsuki slowly placed Izuku down, and he rested his head on him.

He screamed in agony.

* * *

Katsuki went home early, the images of a very dead Izuku constantly flashing on his mind. His trek home wasn't eventful, other than him kicking a bunch of rocks or cans in his path.

He was, however, trying to hold back his emotions as the words of the EMTs sounded in his thoughts.

 _You did everything you could. At least you tried._

They thought he helped Izuku, that he cared for him. What they didn't know is that he caused that. He made Izuku jump, and they didn't know the truth. Out of anger, Katsuki punched a nearby wall, creating a sizable crater on it. The guilt really ate him up, and took a toll on his ego.

"If only they fucking knew.." Katsuki grumbled as a few droplets were set free from his eyes.

What Katsuki found odd is that even after a week later the incident, there were no announcements about a wake, let alone a funeral for Izuku. When he usually gets a glimpse of Inko Midoriya, Izuku's mom, around the neighborhood, she didn't look downright depressed or something.

She looked... hopeful.

It bothered Katsuki.

* * *

He saw Izuku's mom again, this time in the nearby grocery store. She was shopping for food ingredients, A LOT OF THEM. It's like she was preparing a buffet of something.

This time, she looked.. determined?

Now that confused Katsuki. Hopefulness, then determination? Something was afoot. It irked him. He kicked a soda can on the pavement out of frustration, but the can hit a wall, ricocheted, and went inside a garbage bin, slightly amusing and creeping out Katsuki.

"What the fuck." was the monotone sentence that Katsuki said afterwards.

* * *

"Kacchan!"

A disembodied voice said to Katsuki. He opened his eyes, then he noticed that he's in a reddish-black abyss of sorts, floating around.

"Hi Kacchan! You killed me. Isn't that great?"

The voice said again, making Katsuki look rapidly in random directions, looking for the source.

There was only one person that would call him that childish nickname, which is why Katsuki is getting slightly nervous.

"Deku! You little shit! This isn't fucking funny!" Katsuki yelled at random directions. There is some strain on his voice.

"Silly Kacchan! Of course it's funny! Especially the time when you made me crush my skull on the pond wall! There was a lot of blood, too!"

An image flashed before him; it was Izuku, face down on the pond as blood started to mix with the pond, making the small body of water entirely red.

Katsuki is getting angry, and starting to feel very uneasy.

Then the entire abyss transformed into a collage of images, all about Izuku who was very bloody and dead. Most of them had his dull, lifeless eyes as the centerpiece. Katsuki tried to flail around as he floated, trying to get away, but he just won't budge from his position. He couldn't shut his eyes either.

Katsuki is now panicking.

"No no NO! Stop this fucking shit! Right fucking NOW!"

A shadowed figure appeared in front of him. Katsuki looked at the figure suspiciously; he tried exploding it, but his quirk won't work.

The shadows dissipated, revealing Izuku, who looked exactly as he did after jumping, in his school uniform, with the dent on his head, blood leaking wherever possible, his eyes were dull and lifeless, and most of all, his skin is pale; it's like he's a walking corpse.

Izuku placed his hands on Katsuki's shoulders. Katsuki tried to remove them, but couldn't for some invisible force is keeping them in place. Izuku smiled at Katsuki, eliciting panicked reactions from the ash blonde.

"You had fun, right?"

"NO! I'd fucking take it back if I could! I'd take it back!"

* * *

"Katsuki! You little shit! You have a visitor!" a female voice resounded from somewhere; his mother.

Katsuki shot up from his bed panickedly, his fists ready to blow shit up. He looked around quickly, surveying his surroundings; he's no longer in the abyss, but rather in his bedroom, and on his bed.

 _A fucking nightmare... great._

More importantly, he has visitors? Why would anyone visit him? Who would visit him? Katsuki has no friends as far as he knows. He complied regardless, not in the mood to argue with his mother. The nightmare still haunted him.

Groggily, he got off his bed and dressed himself hastily, brushed his teeth, and went to the living room, where his visitor was waiting for him, chatting very animatedly with his mother.

Wait... messy green hair? That doesn't look right..

"Oh, there he is. About time."

The owner of the mop of green hair turned to face Katsuki. He definitely looked delighted on seeing him.

The face Katsuki saw made him freeze.

"Kacchan!"

Katsuki stared with wide eyes as the person staredback at him with a delighted expression. This person was the very same one he "killed" a week ago.. the same one that was the subject of his nightmare. And of course, there's the nickname. There's only one person that calls him Kacchan..

 _Izuku.. Deku.._

"No no no! This is another fucking nightmare!"

Katsuki gripped his hair as he stared at Izuku, who was now approaching him worriedly.

"Kacchan, you've been having nightma-?"

Izuku tried to place his hands on Katsuki's shoulders, but he swatted Izuku's hands away.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

Katsuki ran back upstairs to his room, slamming it shut. For a moment, Izuku was puzzled as to why Katsuki would run away from him; it was very unlike him. Then he snapped back to reality.

"I'm not dead, Kacchan! Let me explain! Please!"

Izuku's pleas went unresponded, and he just stared at the staircase in front of him.

"Katsuki! Get back here right fucking now!" Katsuki's mom suddenly yelled towards the staircase, slightly startling Izuku. Slightly.

Izuku steeled himself, relaxed, and put on his "brave happy face". He turned his head to face Bakugou's mom.

"I'll go get him, Miss Bakugou!" Izuku chirped, then he darted for Katsuki's room. Bakugou's mom tiredly folded her arms and waited.

Izuku now stood before Katsuki's bedroom door, and he breathed in and out before quietly knocking on the door.

"Kacchan?"

 _No response, not even a curse word. Weird._

Izuku continued knocking, trying to elicit a response from his explosive "buddy". His hand landed on the door knob, and he turned it, delighting Izuku.

 _Why didn't I think of this earlier? Kacchan must've forgot to lock it._

"I'm entering your room, Kacchan."

The sounds of stuff clattering down on the floor suddenly emanated from inside the room, followed by Katsuki's yelling.

"No! Fucking don't!"

The door drifted open to the side, and Izuku stood in the doorway, smiling at Katsuki, who was on his bed with his blanket wrapped around him, save for his face. Some pencils and Katsuki's phone are on the floor.

 _Katsuki is inside a blanket coccoon! It looks.. cute?_

"YOU. ARE. DEAD. Even in death, you still fucking pester me!" Katsuki snarled as he glared half-hearted daggers at Izuku, who seemed to be unfazed by it as he continued walking towards him, then sitting down on Katsuki's bed.

"I'm alive and breathing, Kacchan. Gimme time to explain? Please?" Izuku pleaded with Katsuki. Izuku took the latter's silence as a "yes", and he smiled before starting.

"So umm, what they told me is that there was this visting foreign doctor with this really powerful healing quirk! They said the doctor's quirk revives anyone who died an unnatural death, and reverses the effects of their cause of death, as long as the time of death wasn't a day ago. Sooo the doctor used it on me.. I just woke up a few days ago, the nurses said I was recovering for a full week! They even said I had this huge dent on my head! I really had a dent on my head, Kacchan? Was it really so big tha-"

"You're fucking going overboard again, but I get it." Katsuki cut him off, looking to the side. Izuku was surprised by Katsuki's behavior; he wasn't yelling at him.

Katsuki unwrapped himself from his blanket coccoon, and did the unexpected.

Katsuki lunged at Izuku, one arm on Izuku's back, the other on his shoulders, and Katsuki buried his face on Izuku's neck. The lunge sent Izuku lying down on the bed.

 _Kacchan is.. hugging me?_

"Y-you.. don't fucking do that again! Even if I say shit like that!"

Katsuki spoke with a broken voice that said "worried", which surprised Izuku even more. Izuku wondered if what happened softened Kacchan up.

"I won't, Kacchan. Promise."

Izuku wrapped his own arms around Katsuki, and hugged him tightly.

"Besides, I'm really happy right now!" Izuku chirped with a smile.

Izuku felt something wet on his shoulder that Katsuki's head is on. As Izuku separated their faces from each other's shoulders, he noticed that a stream of tears had formed from Katsuki's eyes, which caused the wetness on his shoulder.

"Kacchan.. you're crying." Izuku said worriedly as he stared directly at Katsuki's eyes, who was unable to keep eye contact and looked to the side as he made quiet sobbing sounds.

"I'm.. s-sorry.." Katsuki blurted out in a whisper, his gaze going to his stuff on the floor.

Izuku didn't catch what Katsuki had just said, so he brought his face to Katsuki's view and tilted his head.

"Hmm? Kacchan?"

Katsuki hugged Izuku again, this time with so much force it's as if Katsuki was trying to crush Izuku. He gritted his teeth.

"I said I'm fucking sorry! Now did you hear that, nerd?!" Katsuki yelled as he rested his head on the same shoulder he cried on earlier. The yell slightly disoriented Izuku since it was too close to his ear.

"Loud and clear, Kacchan. Hihi." Izuku chirped as he laughed and smiled at Katsuki. The ridiculously lively and cheerful expression being directed at Katsuki made him blush a light shade of red, and he tilted his head lower as to avoid his blush getting detected by Izuku.

 _I'm fucking blushing?! What did I do to fucking deserve this?!_

"I forgive you."

Izuku hugged back at Katsuki, who then tightened his hug even more on hearing those words.

 _Kacchan is being awfully clingy now._

When Izuku tried signalling Katsuki that he'd like a break from the hugging, Katsuki latched onto him even stronger.

"Stay." Katsuki muttered calmly.

"Okay, Kacchan." Izuku said as he rubbed soothing circles on Katsuki's back.

Katsuki suddenly grabbed Izuku's hands gently and placed them in front of the two. Katsuki's rough hands gripped on Izuku's as his thumbs traced the smooth skin.

 _So fucking smooth.._

Katsuki stared at their hands in front of them, avoiding eye contact with Izuku, who just smiled back.

"I'm gonna fucking protect you this time, Dek- Izuku! I'll make sure that you will never get hurt anymore! I fucking promise!" Katsuki said in an repressed, angry voice as he continued looking at their hands. Izuku looked at him reassuringly.

"You don't have to, Kacchan. Don't worry about me!" Izuku said nervously.

Katsuki flinched, and he went to meet Izuku's gaze.

"I want to, dumbass!"

The intense stare Katsuki was giving Izuku meant that he couldn't be dissuaded, so Izuku just let him be.

"If that's what you want, Kacchan. Thank you then!" Izuku smiled at Katsuki.

Katsuki released their hands, and found himself suddenly talking to Izuku without any shouting and without any cursing as much as possible. Izuku chatted animatedly with Katsuki, mostly telling him about the hospital and this big meal his mom prepared him.

 _Huh, so that's where her groceries went._

Eventually they got tired of talking and lied down on Katsuki's bed, thinking about things, lamenting on the past and such.

"Ya know something, De-.. Izuku?" Katsuki broke the silence between them, but not before correcting himself on the usage of "Deku". Regardless, he got Izuku's attention.

"Hmm?"

"I had thoughts.. I did that to you and I'm a horrible fucking person and all that, and that I don't deserve to be around you. But guess what?"

"What, Kacchan?"

Katsuki sat up on his bed, and went to look at Izuku, who looked back with a smile.

 _Doesn't his fucking mouth hurt from all that smiling?!_

"I just figured you'll just keep on fucking stalking me anyway, so I didn't do that." Katsuki said, and he bent over the bed to pick up the fallen stuff on the floor, starting with the pencils, which he placed on the end table.

Izuku had this spaced-out look of astonishment on his face. Katsuki took notice, and flicked him on the nose to snap him out of his reverie, which worked. Katsuki went to pick up his phone as Izuku started to speak.

"Sorry Kacchan! But.. does that mean I'm your.. friend?" Izuku said rather nervously as he twiddled with his fingers. Katsuki threw his phone on the bed and shifted from his position to face Izuku, who was now giving him an anxious look.

"You can call it that, whatever." Katsuki said tiredly as he plopped himself on his back again.

Then Katsuki could hear sobs coming from Izuku. He turned, and Izuku was looking at him with some kind of "sad/happy" face as he cried.

"Kacchan.."

Katsuki rolled his eyes, and took his blanket to wipe off Izuku's tears.

"Don't cry, dumbass. You look stupid." Katsuki said as he cleaned Izuku's face of any tears, then he flicked Izuku on his nose again, eliciting a mock "ow" from him.

 _Kinda damn cute.._

"I-I'm just so happy! I'm Kacchan's friend!" Izuku shouted happily, and did a victorious fist pump while laughing animatedly.

Katsuki eyed the spectacle with irritated eyes, but he actually felt happy seeing Izuku like that, and Katsuki being around Izuku made him kind of.. calm?

 _Why doesn't he hate me?! Did he even forget what I did?! Said?!_

 _That, or he's just really fucking crazy._

"Yeah.. I fucking am. Now get outta my room, you crazy shit." Katsuki then threw a pillow at Izuku.

* * *

 **So, what do you think of it? Do leave a review, please.**


	2. Far from Redemption

**AN UPDATE! Uni gets in the way of progress, so.. yeah.**

* * *

After Izuku's and Katsuki's "reconciliation" on the latter's bedroom, the two's relations have improved ever since, even though Katsuki had his doubts; he thinks he doesn't deserve Izuku's friendship so easily after everything that he put him through. Regardless, though, Katsuki still continued calling Izuku "fuckmunch" or "nerd" and the like, but unlike before, it didn't have its bite, and Izuku just considered it as Katsuki's way of saying "buddy" or "friend". Katsuki would also sometimes call Izuku "Deku" on impulse and would go to correcting himself immediately, but Izuku would tell him that it's fine, like it would be Katsuki's nickname for him; Katsuki still keeps on correcting himself, though.

 _That's dangerous fucking territory._

On Izuku's first day back to school, Katsuki walked with Izuku, and on the way they chatted about numerous topics; Izuku kept on talking about All Might, though. When the duo got to class, their classmates were actually surprised that Katsuki and Izuku walked in together without finding a single trace of malice on Katsuki or injuries on Izuku; wide eyes and agape mouths were everywhere. The two sat down on their respective seats as if nothing happened, then class started.

* * *

Class was dismissed for lunch, and everyone filed out of the classroom one by one save for Izuku, who was scribbling hero notes on his "No.13" notebook, which was still surprisingly writable on.

 _Hmmm, memories.. not good ones, but the past is in the past! Kacchan's my friend now!_

"You still write on that piece of shit?"

"Ahhhh!"

The sudden voice surprised Izuku, making him jump from his seat. Quickly recovering, Izuku immediately stood up and faced the owner of the voice, who happened to be a scowling Katsuki.

"Ka-Kacchan! I thought you went out already?"

"Fuck no, I went to pick something up. Now go downstairs and wait for me. I'm hungry, and you should eat." Katsuki told Izuku as he went for the door.

"Oh uh sure, Kacchan!" Izuku beamed at Katsuki, waving his hand. Katsuki stopped and stared at him.

"I'm gonna go and get you a fucking new notebook tomorrow. Don't even think about stopping me."

"Umm.. okay Kacchan. Thanks?"

Katsuki slammed the door shut behind him, leaving a still beaming Izuku behind it. A moment later, Izuku went out of the classroom and into the hallways, heading for the cafeteria.

Izuku started mumbling as he walked slowly along the hallway.

"IwonderwhatsthenameofthedoctorthathealedmejustsoIcouldcomebackandthankhimpersonallyandperhapsaskhimabouthisquirkitsreallypowerfulbuthesrussiansonowIcantfindhimhecouldbeanywherehecouldevenbebackinmoscowmaybeIcouldgoandaskintherussianconsulatemaybetheyknow-eeeep!"

Izuku's mumbling was cut short as a trio of apparent bullies appeared right before Izuku. Their apparent "ringleader" grinned deviously as Izuku was turned into a nervous wreck before them.

"Well lookie here, if it isn't the mumbling nerd. Deku, isn't it?" the ringleader said with malice in his voice.

"U-uuum d-do you guys w-want something?" Izuku nervously stuttered before the bullies.

The ringleader shoved Izuku against the wall and grabbed his shirt collar.

"Well, I haven't fulfilled my daily quota for beating up helpless little shits.."

The ringleader brought his face closer to Izuku's, his eyes boring holes into Izuku's very soul.

"Today, it's gonna be you, nerd!"

The ringleader brought up his fist, preparing to hit Izuku, who winced.

"N-no! Wait! Please!"

The ringleader's fist then went straight for Izuku, who closed his eyes and cried as he anticipated the fist.

However, no fist hit Izuku's face. Izuku slowly opened his eyes, and saw that a hand latched on the ringleader's fist before it could hit him.

It was Katsuki's hand, and it's smoking a bit.

"Ohh, it's Mister McSplodey! What, you want a round with the nerd first?" the ringleader asked Katsuki amusedly.

"Kacchan!" Izuku yelped.

Katsuki had a dark look on his face, and appeared ready to kill.

"Let him go." Katsuki told the ringleader in a very low voice. Said ringleader flinched, and shot Katsuki a confused look.

"What? Are you serious? He's like, the perfect punching bag for the day! Don't you practically beat him up every day?" the ringleader said to Katsuki, who was getting even more irritated.

"I said.."

Katsuki's other hand balled into a fist..

"..LET HIM GO!"

..and it went straight for the ringleader's face, a small explosion accompanying its hit. The ringleader went flying across the hallway, and crashed inside a trash bin. Izuku was released from the ringleader's grip as he flew and was dropped on the floor.

"Dude, what the fuck?!" the other two yelped as they stared at the trash bin with their ringleader in it.

"When I fucking tell you to let him go, YOU LET HIM GO!" Katsuki yelled at the other two as explosions crackled on his palms. They scampered off shortly afterwards, taking their trash bin ringleader with them.

Katsuki looked at Izuku, who was rubbing on his head with his hands.

 _Fucking Deku.._

"Oi, fuckmunch." Katsuki extended a hand to Izuku, who took it and raised himself up. Izuku then lunged at Katsuki.

"Thank you Kacchan! You saved me! You really are my hero!"

Izuku squeezed Katsuki in a hug. Katsuki thought of hugging Izuku back, but went for shoving him off instead.

"Yeah yeah, now get off." Katsuki tried to shove off Izuku off, but lightly. Izuku noticed and released Katsuki from his hug with a big smile plastered on his face.

"I fucking said I would protect you. I keep my word." Katsuki squinted at Izuku, who kept on smiling at him with the radiance of a thousand suns.

"And I actually said that I didn't need it, hehe.. turns out I do." Izuku's expression turned into an awkward one, retaining the smile.

Katsuki found his smile rather.. endearing, and he gawked at Izuku expressionlessly.

 _What the fuck WHAT?_

"But just you wait, Kacchan! When I become a hero, I'll be super strong! I'll be able to protect myself then!" Izuku said as he fist pumped and looked determinedly at Katsuki, who was still gawking.

"And I can fight alongside you, Kacchan!"

Katsuki can't help but actually feel sorry for Izuku, though at the same time he's trying not to get all high and mighty on him.

Katsuki goes to put his hands on Izuku's shoulders, slightly startling Izuku with the action.

"You still fucking believe that, huh?" Katsuki said to Izuku as he looked directly and calmly at Izuku's green emerald eyes..

If Katsuki's not mistaken, is Izuku's cheeks SLIGHTLY red right now?

"I-I.. yeah. You.. don't want me to?" Izuku looked away from Katsuki's gaze in favor of the floor as he spoke in a hushed voice.

Katsuki continued staring at Izuku. Specifically, Izuku's curly black and green hair, and lamented on how soft and "fluffy" it could be.

 _You're fucking quirkless, Deku. You'll get in the fucking way and become another liability. You can easily get fucking killed. Oh, and the fact that you can't really fight the fuck back because you don't have a quirk? Yeah, you'll fucking die._

 _..._

 _You want Deku to fly again? Fuck that, say something else!_

Katsuki withdrew a hand from one of Izuku's shoulders and placed it on his hair. Katsuki started ruffling Izuku's hair lightly, yet robotically. Izuku let out a quiet yelp of surprise at the sudden action.

 _Fluffy.._

 _"_ You don't have a quirk."

Katsuki said to Izuku bluntly. Izuku's eyes went from the floor to Katsuki's fiery red eyes, a piercing and determined look on them.

"But.. you don't need to have a quirk to be a hero. Right?"

Katsuki was starting to get irritated, but ruffling Izuku's hair seems to calm him down..

 _Is your hair fucking cotton or something?_

"You don't get it, do you? Without a fucking quirk, you can't exactly fight back against the bad guys. Hell, you'll just fucking die." Katsuki said amusedly. Izuku looked on him with a worried look.

"Kacchan.."

Katsuki brought his face really close to Izuku's, boring holes into his eyes, and slightly scaring him.

"If you wanna die, go right the fuck ahead." Katsuki said it as if it was nothing.

Katsuki then withdrew his hands from Izuku and went to walk away from Izuku, who just stood there and looked on at Katsuki. Then Katsuki realized after a few steps on what he just said to Izuku, making him stop and freeze in his tracks.

 _Fucking shit!_

Katsuki bolted for Izuku and wrapped his arms around Izuku's form, tightly gripping him. Izuku yelped at the surprise hug.

"DEKU I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT-! OH SHIT MOTHERFUCKING FUCK!" Katsuki spewed those words out as his grip on Izuku went tighter and tighter, determined to not let go, thinking Izuku might do a "Flying Deku 2.0".

Katsuki was shaking.

Izuku reciprocated the hug, but unlike Katsuki's, his hug is gentle, which also lessened Katsuki's tension, his grip on Izuku, and his shaking.

"Colorful vocabulary, Kacchan. I get it, though." Izuku said soothingly as he rubbed circles on Katsuki's back.

A moment later, Katsuki released Izuku from his hug, and Izuku did likewise. Izuku directed his gaze at Katsuki, a reassuring look on his face. Katsuki looked back with an expressionless face.

"You just don't want me to get killed, right?" he added, smiling at Katsuki.

Katsuki stayed silent.

...

Izuku's stomach suddenly rumbled, reminding the two that they haven't grabbed lunch yet.

"Oh Kacchan! We haven't eaten yet! Let's go!" Izuku took hold of Katsuki's hand and dragged him towards the school cafeteria, hand in hand. The two earned some weird looks along the way, mostly negative ones which Katsuki glared down.

Regardless, Katsuki didn't complain, and allowed Izuku to drag him anyway.

* * *

The two ate their lunch in the cafeteria on one of the medium-sized tables; no one dared to interrupt the two, let alone ask Katsuki why he was having lunch with the resident nerd and his former target for attempted "explodo-killing".

Katsuki continued munching on his meat dish as Izuku took small bites of his vegetables, for he was making small-talk with Katsuki.

"You know, Kacchan.. you'll make an amazing hero." Izuku said out of the blue.

Katsuki quickly gulped down his food and reacted.

"Where the fuck is this coming from?" Katsuki asked Izuku with a raised eyebrow.

Izuku played with a vegetable on his plate, his gaze fixed on the plant foodstuff.

"Oh, I was just.. thinking." Izuku said as he twirled the vegetable around with his fork, smiling.

Katsuki looked on with his eyebrow still raised. Then Izuku's gaze went to him.

"I'm gonna apply for UA!" Izuku declared cheerfully, then shoving his vegetable foodstuff into his mouth and chewed it.

Katsuki looked shocked and surprised simultaneously, eyes wide. Shockprised!

"You are too, right Kacchan? You're very smart and strong! You'll definitely ace the tests!" Izuku cheerfully said to Katsuki as he continued looking "shockprised".

Katsuki snapped out of his reverie after a moment, and said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Shut up." Katsuki then shoved a forkfull of meat into his mouth and aggressively chewed it.

Izuku laughed, and the two continued eating their food. Once they were done, Katsuki looked at the clock in the cafeteria; they still had some time before class starts again.

Katsuki pushed the dishes aside, then he placed his hands on the table, followed by his head going on top of his hands. Izuku observed him.

"Kacchan?"

"I'm gonna take a nap, wake me up when the fucking bell rings." Katsuki shut his eyes and took his nap, leaving no time for Izuku to react.

Izuku decides to play the mind-numbing tedium of a smartphone game known as Digifarm while Katsuki napped. Five minutes later, the cafeteria empties and Izuku gets bored with the game, so he decides to playfully poke Katsuki on his nose. Katsuki doesn't stir.

 _Kacchan falls asleep quickly._

Izuku looked at Katsuki, and saw how peaceful he looked when asleep; he isn't scowling, his eyebrows are aren't furrowed, he looked relaxed in short.

 _Kacchan looks so peaceful.. and angelic._

Then Katsuki's brows suddenly furrow, he starts gritting his teeth, and he starts making strained noises. Izuku instantly notices that Katsuki was having a nightmare.

"Deku.. I'm sorry! I'm fucking sorry!"

Alarmed by the statement, Izuku reaches across the table and tries shaking Katsuki to wake him up.

"Kacchan?" Izuku lightly shook Katsuki to no effect.

Katsuki's hands ball into fists as a small amount of tears start to flow from his eyes.

"Get me out of your fucking life! I'll just fucking shit on it again!"

Katsuki's voice was strained, and full of guilt and fear. More tears flowed from his eyes.

It hurt Izuku on knowing that Katsuki was having a nightmare about him. Sure, Katsuki hurt him, both physically and mentally, but Izuku wasn't the kind to just watch someone suffer, even if it was Katsuki.

Katsuki is his friend now, so he feels obligated to help him; friends help each other.

"Kacchan! Wake up!" Izuku continues shaking Katsuki some more, with more force, but with no effect still.

"YOU FORGIVE TOO FUCKING MUCH!"

Katsuki yells, his outburst reverberating throughout the now thankfully empty cafeteria.

Izuku makes his way beside Katsuki, forces him to a sitting position, and clutches at his shoulders.

"KACCHAN!" Izuku shouts with all his might, and it had an effect on Katsuki.

Katsuki's eyes bolted open and he finds himself staring straight at Izuku's green orbs. Katsuki noticed a tear flowing from one of Izuku's eyes.

Izuku then hugs Katsuki to comfort him, resting his head on Katsuki's chest. The contact made Katsuki calm down.

"You were having a nightmare, Kacchan. Are you okay?" Izuku said softly to Katsuki, who responded by lightly placing a hand on Izuku's head.

"I-Izuku.."

Katsuki ruffled Izuku's hair, wanting to feel its apparent fluffiness. And simply because he wanted to.

 _His hair is so fucking curly and fluffy.._

 _I don't deserve this.._

"Kacchan.. I want you in my life. I don't want you out of it, I want you in it."

Izuku looked up to Katsuki with bright green eyes, making him feel weird.

 _Cute.._

"You heard that, huh?" Katsuki said softly as he continued ruffling Izuku's hair.

Izuku gave out a quiet "mmhmm" as he nuzzled at Katsuki's chest.

"All of it is fucking true. I shouldn't be here with you. I'm bound to fuck up and shit on your life again."

Katsuki's voice was strained, something that Izuku noticed and was worried about. Izuku went to meet Katsuki's gaze again; Katsuki looked hurt, angry-hurt to be exact.

"You want a happy fucking life, Dek-.. Izuku? Remove me from it."

Katsuki put his hand away from Izuku's hair and tried to shove him off, but the boy had super clinging strength and refused to let go.

"I don't want to! You're a big part of my life, Kacchan!"

Izuku retaliated by shouting and clinging even tighter to Katsuki.

"Yeah, because I made you go jump off the fucking roof! In a way, I fucking killed you! That's not good, damn it! I'm a fucking bad influence!"

Katsuki tried pulling on Izuku's arms but they stuck to him like super glue.

"But.. I'm alive again, Kacchan. And ever since that happened, you've been good to me.. you bullied me before, I know.. but now you're protecting me from the others."

Izuku let go of Katsuki, who he smiled at afterwards.

"Besides, we're friends now, right? I've always wanted to be your friend, Kacchan!"

"You're a fucking idiot for thinking like that." Katsuki scoffed.

Izuku's smile waned a bit due to Katsuki's "scolding".

"But you agreed anyway.." Izuku looked and twiddled with his fingers.

Katsuki sighed as he stared at Izuku play around with his fingers nervously.

"I don't fucking deserve you. I got a hint from my last nightmare.. and I've realized it after this fucking one. "

Katsuki looked anywhere but at Izuku, spotting a rather interesting chair with hammer-and-sickle scribbles on it. Izuku stopped twiddling with his fingers and directed all his attention to Katsuki at the mention of his nightmares.

"But I deserve you." Izuku said affectionately.

Katsuki's attention went back to Izuku, and he did a mental double-take on Izuku's statement.

"Huh?"

"Think of it like this then; you don't deserve me for what you did, but I deserve you for exactly that!"

Katsuki's facial expression slowly morphed into one that said "Ehhhh?".

"Think of it as punishment then! You have to be in my life for what you did!"

Izuku beamed as he finished the statement. Katsuki stared at the little ray of sunshine that is Deku for thinking of ways to weasel around Katsuki's reasoning.

 _Cheeky little shit._

Not being able to find a counter, Katsuki turned away from Izuku and tried to walk away. He was stopped by a hand grabbing onto his wrist.

"Please stay, Kacchan. I know you'll be good to me.."

Izuku stared at Katsuki with wide, pleading eyes. Katsuki squinted back, but could barely resist the cinnamon roll that is Deku. Their stare-off lasted for a minute until Katsuki spoke up.

"Under one condition, Izuku."

Izuku burst into life, his eyes starting to sparkle. Katsuki grunted.

"What, Kacchan? Anything!" Izuku beamed.

Katsuki closed his eyes, breathed in, then out, and opened them again.

"If I start treating you like shit again, PROMISE ME THAT YOU'LL MAKE ME FUCK OFF FROM YOUR LIFE! DON'T HESITATE! GOT IT?!" Katsuki was suddenly shouting.

Katsuki grabbed a nervously smiling Izuku by his shoulders.

"KILL ME IF YOU HAVE TO!" Katsuki shouted through gritted teeth.

Izuku flinched on hearing that Katsuki would want him to kill him. Izuku would never want to hurt Katsuki, regardless of their history. Katsuki released his hands from Izuku's shoulders and eyed him for a response. Izuku looked distraught by the last statement.

"Okay Kacchan. Promise. But I don't think I'll have to kill you." Izuku slowly smiled at Katsuki, who grunted again.

Izuku brought up his balled-up right hand to Katsuki, which had his pinky extended. Katsuki eyed the gesture confusedly.

"What the fuck is that?" Katsuki asked monotonically, unimpressed.

"Pinky swear, Kacchan!" Izuku replied, then he brought his hand closer to Katsuki.

Katsuki continued staring at the hand judgementally..

"What are you, eight?" Katsuki said monotonically, then sighed.

Katsuki balled-up his right hand and extended his pinky finger, bringing it to Izuku's, where their two pinkies intertwined, signifying that the two have made a deep promise to each other.

Then the school bell rang, reminding all students that they better drag their asses back to their classrooms unless they wanted to be late for class, then reprimanded, and being ineligible for graduation.

"Now let's fucking go. I don't wanna be late." Katsuki released his pinky from Izuku's, and walked away from him, heading for their classroom, leaving a smiling Izuku in his wake.

"Wait up, Kacchan!" Izuku snapped out of his smiling reverie and ran after Katsuki.

 _It's going to take more than a few fucking good deeds and a notebook to make it up to Deku..._

* * *

 **Thanks for continuing to read my work!**


	3. Thoughts

**I've finally updated this! Well, academics got in the way.. and my KiriBaku fic, Obey and Survive. If you're into that ship, do check it out too!**

 **Also, if you've noticed, the chapter is shorter than the previous two, and I'll be doing the same to future chapters. That way, I can update more frequently, whenever possible.. and I won't be overwhelmed by word count.**

 **Now enjoy this!**

* * *

Class hours went on as usual; Izuku constantly ends up mumbling to himself during the course of class time, with Katsuki telling him to stop when his incoherent speech was getting out of hand.

"You're mumbling again, nerd."

"Oh-aah! Sorry!"

It would happen several times during class hours, and the cycle of Izuku mumbling, Katsuki telling him to stop, and Izuku mumbling again later would constantly repeat itself.

* * *

It was now dismissal time, and Izuku is currently cornered in his seat by two hooligans. The hooligans, two of Izuku's boisterous classmates (apart from Katsuki), stuck around and started boasting around about how they'll be only ones going to be able to get into UA, and once Izuku brought up that he was planning to go to UA, they started to barrage him with insults, which then evolved to Izuku's current situation.

"I'm very fucking sure that a quirkless nerd like you can't get into UA!"

"You and UA are two things that don't mix, loser!"

The two were getting into Izuku's personal space, and he shrunk closer to his seat as the hooligans went closer towards him, intimidating him. Izuku shakily looked around for Katsuki, hoping for him to return from the washroom sooner.

"Just.. stop.. please.."

Katsuki then returned, furiously kicking open the classroom door. Furious because he overheard the hooligans and their tormenting of his friend.. Izuku.

"You're a bunch of fucking fucktards! Do you fucks actually think you could get into UA?!"

Katsuki stomped towards the two hooligans, pointing a finger at them accusingly.

"There's gonna be only one from this shitty school that's gonna make it to UA! Got that?! ONE!"

The main hooligan chuckled, the other one breaking into a grin.

"Who? You, Blasty? Maaaaybee, yeah. But this quirkless loser?"

The main hooligan pointed at Izuku, who's cowering in his seat. The other hooligan laughed at him as he crossed his arms.

"He should just jump off the roof again. And he better make sure he stays dead this time."

The other hooligan added as he made finger motions of a person jumping, making whistling sounds as the fingers went down. His co-hooligan laughed again at the gesture.

That had Katsuki seething at his teeth. In an instant, he grabbed the shirt collar of the main hooligan, raising him up from the floor as Katsuki sent death glares his way.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY ABOUT HIM YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE?!"

Katsuki's hand on the hooligan's shirt collar went to his throat and squeezed, the hooligan responding with his hands trying to get Katsuki's off as he made choking noises.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Katsuki sent the hooligan crashing down on the ground with plenty of force, the hooligan coughing out spurts of blood. The other hooligan gaped in shock.

"H-holy shit dude! Chill! Chill!"

The other hooligan added as Katsuki continued squeezing the main hooligan's throat, who was making gargling noises. Izuku observed the scene in front of him, conflicted on either being happy or afraid.

"APOLOGIZE."

Katsuki growled to the main hooligan in his chokehold; he didn't respond, Katsuki's hand on his throat constricting his ability to speak. Katsuki hit his head on the floor in response.

"NOW!"

Katsuki added as his patience continued to dwindle.

"S-sorry! Sorrysorrysorry!"

The other hooligan sputtered out as he waved his hands in front of him as a sign of apology. Katsuki released the main hooligan from his chokehold, then coughing.

"NOW FUCK OFF! GET THE FUCK OUT YOU FUCKERS! RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

Katsuki yelled at the two. The other hooligan then rushed to the main hooligan's side, hoisting him up, then they hastily scampered out of the classroom. Izuku then looked at Katsuki with a conflicted look on his face.

"Kacchan.."

Katsuku turned his attention to Izuku. On noticing the look Izuku gave him, he lunged at him and squeezed him tight.

"Don't listen to them! They're just some fucking idiots, Izuku!"

Katsuki's grip on Izuku tightened, the memories of Izuku crashing on the pavement head-on repeating itself in his head, and it was too real for him.

"Don't do it again.. don't listen to those fuckmunches..."

Katsuki pleaded. HE ACTUALLY PLEADED TO IZUKU. Izuku was aghast at Katsuki's uncharacteristic behaviour.

 _For Kacchan to do that.. that means he values me a lot.._

"I'm not going to, Kacchan. Don't worry."

Izuku reciprocated Katsuki's hug, and patted his back for good measure. Katsuki then released Izuku from his hug, gazing at him calmly.

"Good."

Katsuki took some time to observe Izuku's features, such as his innocent, round eyes with emerald green irises, the freckles that dotted his face.. For some reason, Izuku now had a calming effect on Katsuki instead of the angering effect he used to have on him.

Katsuki huffed at the revelation.

"Thank you."

Izuku blurted out, and smiled at Katsuki; a very innocent and precious smile that made Katsuki warm inside.. and outside.

"Yeah.."

After a short pause, Katsuki patted Izuku on his shoulders, who responded with a curious look.

"Let's go?"

"Mmhmm!"

The two then packed up their things and grabbed their bags, then they headed out for home, walking together. Katsuki no longer wore the intimidating look and aura around Izuku, replacing it with calmness instead; in short, the blonde looked way more approachable now.

Izuku really did have an effect on Katsuki.

* * *

Katsuki and Izuku graduated from elementary school, and were well on their way to their paths as heroes, for they were looking forward to the entrance exams of UA, the most prestigious hero academy there is. Katsuki seems out of it, however.

Katsuki is currently at Izuku's place for some studying and "getting together"; Izuku's idea. The freckled boy is on his computer, looking for some hero research material as Katsuki lied down on his bed, daydreaming.

"Tomorrow's the entrance exam for UA, Kacchan! We'll definitely ace it!"

"Yeah.."

Katsuki continued looking up to the ceiling, pondering on specific thoughts.

 _What if I never gave a shit?_

 _What if I just went the fuck back to beating him up?_

 _Why the fuck am I his friend, after all the shit I've put him through? Why the hell did he forgive me so easily in the first place?!_

"Something wrong, Kacchan?"

Izuku took notice of Katsuki's scrunched face, a byproduct of his thoughts. Katsuki immediately reverted back to his "calm face" and looked at Izuku.

"You've always wanted to be a fucking hero, even if you don't have a quirk. Hell, you keep on talking about heroic shit; saving people with a smile and shit like that..."

Izuku noticed that as Katsuki spoke, he slowly frowned. As Katsuki broke eye contact with Izuku, he layed himself on his side, facing away from Izuku. The freckled boy took notice of Katsuki's odd behaviour, and was getting worried.

"Kacchan? What are you implying?"

Katsuki then shifts to his other side, facing Izuku, then looking at him with a serious/sad expression.

"Deku.. what kind of hero tells someone to jump off a roof and kill themselves?"

Silence instantly took over as Katsuki continued looking at Izuku with his expression while Izuku had a gaping mouth and a look of disbelief. Katsuki then let out a hefty sigh and shifted to lie down on his back.

"Someone like that is a fucking villain for all I care.."

He added, trying as much as he can to not look so weak and pitiful; Katsuki still has his massive pride to look after, but at least he keeps it in check nowadays.

"You-.. You're not-"

Izuku stammered, trying to get the words out of his mouth. Katsuki got the message, however, and huffed in response.

"No, I'm not taking the fucking exam."

Katsuki placed it bluntly. The answer left Izuku speechless, and very confused.

"Why?! You wanted to be a hero just as much as I wanted to be one!"

"Didn't you hear what I'd just said?!"

Katsuki and Izuku then started to argue about who's viewpoint is more justifiable. Shouts were thrown at each other, and were loud enough to be heard by the neighbors.

"Kacchan, the past is in the past!"

"I still fucking said it! It still happened! It doesn't change a fucking thing!"

Katsuki's intensity made Izuku shut up and listen.

"I'm not a damn hero! Hell, I heard some fuckmunches before say that I'd make the perfect fucking villain! Those shits!"

The two stared off, then Katsuki opted to collapse on the bed again, breaking their eye contact. Izuku sighed heartedly, and looked at Katsuki sadly.

"Hehe.. maybe they're right.."

On hearing those words, Izuku let out his tears, so moved on how the blonde changed due to this "death". Then he lunged at Katsuki, aiming to wrap his arms around him to squeeze out any negative thoughts about himself.

"You're a hero to me, Kacchan."

Izuku muttered those words out as he nuzzled his face onto Katsuki's neck, trying to get his friendly affection across to the blonde. Katsuki didn't reciprocate his hug.

"No.."

Katsuki stated bluntly. Izuku tightened his hug in response.

"Kacchan.."

Izuku pleaded with Katsuki, not wanting to go to a new place all alone. Katsuki may have caused him to attempt.. that.. but Izuku being Izuku, he forgave Katsuki when he noticed the latter's change in behaviour, notably with him.

Izuku didn't want that to be taken away from him in such short notice.

"NO!"

Katsuki yelled, making Izuku flinch in fear. The freckled boy quickly released Katsuki from his hug out of reflex and looked directly at his red eyes with an expression of sadness and fear.

"Alright Kacchan... If that's what you want."

Izuku stated weakly, distraught at the thought of attending Yuuei without Katsuki. The blonde huffed, and went to ruffle Izuku's hair as his way of reassuring him that he's not mad.

 _Why is your hair so fucking soft?!_

"You'll live. I don't fucking know how, but you'll live. Make some crazy gadget or some shit..."

Katsuki finished ruffling Izuku's hair, and went out of his room. Izuku heard Katsuki and his mother exchange some words before hearing their front door close shut. Katsuki left.

 _When Kacchan meant there will only be one person coming from our school.. he meant.. me?_

Izuku felt a tear run loose from one of his eyes. He sniffled.

 _Kacchan.. you really have changed.. a lot.._

* * *

 **Well, what could that mean? As always, I'd love to hear from you! And thank you for your continued interest in this work!**


	4. Persistence

**Thanks to real-life, update schedule will be "whenever I can". But this fic isn't dead, I assure you!**

* * *

The days went on in the week, and soon it was Yuuei's entrance exam. Izuku was really desperate to pass the exam, so he worked hard and trained hard, abiding by an All Might workout plan he found on the internet.

It was a really rigorous pursuit, training for the exam while simultaneously trying to keep his grades afloat in school. Izuku, being the very hard working and dedicated individual he is, was able to make both ends meet.

And so, it was time for the exam...

* * *

Days later, Izuku and Katsuki were just "hanging out" in the former's room. They talked and played a few games, though Katsuki was quick to react with explosive anger whenever Izuku beat him, so they went to reading magazines and watching television shows instead.

Izuku was then called to the living room by his mother rather cheerfully. Moments later, joyful fits erupted from the living room, much to Katsuki's annoyance. As Izuku got back to his room minutes later, he showed Katsuki a letter, one that he received from Yuuei; it was his results on the exam.

The results made Izuku break into a huge and teary smile in front of Katsuki, with the latter responding with annoyance.

"The hell are you crying for?"

The freckled boy smiled sheepishly in response as he continued crying.

"It's just that.. I-I uhh.."

There was a pause as Izuku had a hard time trying to get the words out of his mouth..

Then he suddenly broke into a joyful shout, which startled the blonde in front of him.

"I GOT INTO UA!"

Izuku broke into a crying fit and plopped himself on his bed. He was ecstatic that he was able to get in, despite his performance. An unamused Katsuki just stared at Izuku's joyful, crying form as the latter hugged the life out of an All Might plushie.

"Good for you. How'd you get in, I don't wanna fucking know."

Izuku immediately sat himself up on his bed on hearing that, then crossing his legs. He beamed at Katsuki before starting his story.

"I uhh.. well there's this points system, but they only told us about combat points.. which I didn't get any.. I thought I would lose for sure but then All Might told me in his video from the letter that there's this thing called rescue points that I got for rescuing this girl named Uraraka from this zero-pointer behemoth and..."

And so Izuku continued telling Katsuki the rest of his experience in the exam. Since the blonde wasn't telling him to shut up, Izuku went on and on about it, which spanned about thirty minutes worth of storytelling. Katsuki was dead-bored by then, but he continued to listen anyway.

"...so all in all.. since I wasn't really able to fight, my instincts told me to just go rescue the others, and I got points for it.. that I didn't know of.. I placed first on rescue points too!"

A few seconds of silence between Izuku and Katsuki meant that the story is over. Katsuki looked at Izuku with an expression that's a mixture of annoyance and contentedness.

 _Un-fucking-believable._

"What?"

Izuku questioned Katsuki's expression, and not soon after, the blonde went up to him and wrapped his arms around him in a gentle hug, followed by an exasperated groan from Katsuki.

 _This is nice._

"A hug, Kacchan?"

Katsuki hugged Izuku tighter in response, but not enough to cause discomfort to the freckled boy. Izuku, still unable to comprehend Katsuki's sudden action, just stared eyes-wide at the form of the blonde. About half a minute later, Izuku gets a handle on the situation and proceeds to reciprocate the hug, squeezing Katsuki in an ecstatic hug.

"The new Kacchan definitely beats the old one a lot! It's like the old Kacchan was nuked by new Kacchan, and the radioactive fallout is making you very friendly and sup-"

"You're mumbling, idiot."

Izuku immediately silenced himself on hearing Katsuki's complaint.

"Sorry, Kacchan! I'm just so happy!"

Katsuki groaned in annoyance, but then he patted Izuku's back to reassure him he wasn't angry.

"Yeah, yeah."

Moments later, Katsuki pulled himself away from Izuku, but kept his hands on Izuku's shoulders. He looked at the freckled boy with a calm and content look on his face.

"You.. you did good."

The statement made Izuku beam, he's so happy that Katsuki was being so supportive of him. So much happiness radiated from Izuku that Katsuki squinted at him.

"It's not too late, Kacchan! I know s-someone that could get you in! He might give you some tests and other stuff, along with-! Y-you can still get in, Kacchan!"

No response from Katsuki, who just stared back at Izuku.

"C'mon, Kacchan!"

Katsuki still didn't respond, but his expression changed to a solemn one.

"If you don't, I'll take back my forgiveness."

Izuku told Katsuki with a stern tone and expression on his face. Katsuki's expression morphed into one of anger and disbelief, but soon replaced it with a solemn one again.

"Why bother with this crap, Dek-... Izuku?"

Katsuki spoke in a low voice, which took Izuku by surprise. He wasn't used to hearing Katsuki sound so.. sad?

 _Kacchan isn't being himself lately.. is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?_

"Kacchan, it's okay for you to call me Deku! This is the hundredth time I've told you.."

"You're changing the subject, idiot."

Izuku's face wore a look of worry. The freckled boy then hugged Katsuki again out of his own volition, wanting to reassure Katsuki.

"Kacchan, it's because I care. I've always cared about you."

Izuku nuzzled at Katsuki's neck out of caring affection, thinking that such contact would reassure Katsuki. He continued to nuzzle at the blonde's neck since he wasn't hearing any objections from him.

"You're a hero Kacchan.. you saved me multiple times.."

Katsuki suddenly pushed Izuku away from him on hearing that statement. He had a look of disbelief plastered on his face as he looked at Izuku.

"That-"

"No! THAT does not count Kacchan! Don't think about that! Forget about that!"

Then Izuku placed his hands on Katsuki's shoulders, keeping them there with a firm grip. Izuku then stared at Katsuki's red eyes with his green, soul-piercing ones.

"Please, Kacchan.. I know that it has always been your dream to become a hero, don't throw it all away just because of one incident.. it's in the past. I've forgiven you about it, but that doesn't mean I'll forget it, I assure you."

Katsuki gritted his teeth, and his facial expression was also scrunched as he tried to withold his own emotions. Izuku's concerned look didn't help.

"You're a hero, Kacchan. You've been likening yourself to a villain because of what you did, but I don't think you are. Villains are.. evil at heart."

Katsuki bit his lower lip, and he clenched his fists as they trembled. Izuku's concern grew as he noticed the blonde's uneasiness.

"Your heart isn't evil, Kacchan. If you were evil, you would continue to bully me, hurt me, maybe even try to kill me. But now, I'm your friend, and you're my friend, and you're also looking after me.."

Izuku took one of Katsuki's clenched fists and kneaded them with care. It appeared to work since his fists' trembling went away, and that his face didn't appear scrunched anymore, but rather, he looked.. calm. Katsuki looked at his hand being kneaded on, then to Izuku.

 _Kacchan's skin is so.. soft._

"Y-you.."

Izuku placed Katsuki's hand back to his side, then he took his other hand; he started to gently knead the hand a moment later.

"Kacchan.."

Katsuki stared at Izuku's wide, doe-like eyes with mixed reaction; a part of him said "stupid" and the other said "cute".

 _Cute.._

Katsuki brought one of his hands to Izuku's hair then proceeded to ruffle the ridiculously soft mass. Izuku stared up at the arm messing around with his hair in amusement, then he redirected his attention to Katsuki, smiling.

Katsuki yielded to Izuku's persistence and.. cuteness.

"F-fine."

Katsuki looked away to the side as he said that. Meanwhile, a perplexed look formed on Izuku's face.

"Kacchan? Did you just.. stutter?"

In an instant, Katsuki switched from slightly embarassed and uneasy to pissed-off angry.

"NO! THAT WAS YOUR SHITTY EARS HEARING SHITTY SHIT!"

 _Ahh, there's the Kacchan I know!_

Izuku looked unfazed by the outburst since he just smiled at Katsuki. The blonde, in turn, breathed out a heavy sigh before speaking, regaining his composure.

"Fine. I'll take your fucking offer."

Izuku instantly perked up from the statement, and lunged at Katsuki to hug him out of joy. The freckled boy felt so ecstatic he can hardly contain it. Meanwhile, the recipient of the hug was mildly annoyed, but he didn't protest the action being performed on him.

"Kacchan!"

Izuku squeezed Katsuki some more and let out a hearty laugh.

"It'll definitely be a.. BLAST having you around!"

Dead air lingered around them for a good five seconds as Katsuki processed what Izuku had just said to him.

A devious smirk then formed on the blonde's face.

"You want a blast? I'll give you a blast!"

Izuku was suddenly thrown on his back to the bed by Katsuki. A look of slight fear suddenly encompassed Izuku as the blonde went on top of him and placed his hands on his sides..

"Waitwaitwait! N-no! Kacchan!"

..and began to "violently" tickle him.

"HAHAHAHA- T-that tickles! S-stop! Ka-cchan! HAHAHA-"

Izuku's laughter was sporadic and lively to the point that he started tearing up just from doing so. He continuosly squirmed as Katsuki relentlessly rubbed his fingers at Izuku's ticklish spots on his sides. The blonde smiled in a way that made him appear pissed, but in reality he was actually having fun.

"Serves you right for that fucking pun!"

From the living room, Midoriya Inko overheard Izuku's and Katsuki's resonating laughter. She smiled contentedly at their laughter, knowing that the two have somewhat mended each other's relationships.

Though, deep down, Inko worries for her son, considering that he's currently hanging out with the same person that drove him to jump off the school roof.

* * *

Katsuki and Izuku were currently right in front of the U.A. building, taking in the sight of the huge building that's currently right in front of them; they walked together from their homes, and they talked about UA and All Might on the way. It's their first day of school, and they're both hyped.. in their own ways.

"You must've bribed the fuckmunch running the place because there's no way in hell a quirkless.."

 _Don't use that damn word.._

"...you..."

 _That works.._

"...can get into UA!"

Katsuki "snarled" at Izuku, who just brushed it off with a smile; the two's unusual behavior to each other attracted some onlookers. They continued walking towards the entrance of the building.

"Kacchan! You're so cruel!"

Izuku said to Katsuki, letting out small bursts of laughter. The blonde just smirked and ruffled the green-haired boy's hair.

"Heh, bite me."

Izuku took Katsuki's words kind of literally as he brought his mouth to Katsuki's hair-ruffling arm and bit on it toothlessly, earning a perplexed "WTF" look from Katsuki. Some people took notice, but Katsuki glared them off.

 _You're a playful one, aren't you?_

Izuku looked at his watch, and it's ten minutes before class starts. Excited, Izuku took Katsuki's hand and ran for the building, dragging the blonde with him.

"Kacchan! Let's go in before class starts!"

"H-hey! What the fu-!"

Katsuki didn't like being dragged around like some ragdoll, but if it meant having Izuku's soft hands on his, he could live with it.

 _Is Izuku so damn soft everywhere?!_

 _..._

 _It's fine, though.. It's nice. You're off the hook for now, Deku._

* * *

Their classmates were definitely a lively bunch; Izuku recognized Uraraka Ochaco and Iida Tenya from the entrance exam, and soon they were hanging out in a flash.

Katsuki felt a pang of.. jealousy? At first, it was just him and Izuku, and now with his new, apparent friends, Katsuki felt the urge to just drag the freckled boy away from the two just so it can be simply be him and Izuku.

Katsuki thinks that, with his newfound friends, he now has an excuse to start distancing himself from Katsuki.

 _If he wanted to get the hell away from me, then why would he go to stupid lengths to make me get in here?!_

 _.._

 _Oh for fuck's sake, now I'm having shitty thoughts!_

As Katsuki kept on observing Izuku, he was oblivious to the group of people currently pestering him. Once someone poked him on his cheek, he exploded and told them to fuck off, the group comprised of a blonde, a redhead, a "soy sauce face", and an "alien".

They even had the balls to poke fun at him.

 _This is going to be a long fucking day._

* * *

The duo's first day of school then ended; it was just some tests and such that Katsuki literally blew through.. along with some annoying classmates. As for Izuku, he passed the tests anyway, but with a bit of difficulty, and he made some new friends too.

Although they were really surprised to find out All Might was going to be one of their teachers.

Katsuki waited for Izuku on the school gates so they could get to walking home together. Izuku emerged from the building with "glasses" and "angelface" in tow. Once Izuku noticed Katsuki eyeing him, he said something to his two friends and they took off without him as they exchanged farewells; the two momentarily eyed Katsuki, who scoffed to the side, not interested in meeting their gazes.

Izuku bidded them farewell again and apologized for Katsuki's behaviour, who scoffed again. Now left alone, Katsuki straightened up and started walking, motioning for Izuku to follow. The freckled boy stood his place, looking at the ground. Katsuki turned angry in an instant.

"Did they do something to you?! I'll kill the-!"

Izuku hugged Katsuki to calm him from his outburst.

"N-no! It's just that.. Kacchan.. I have something that I want to tell you."

The hug did calm down Katsuki, and was now waiting for Izuku to spill whatever he was going to spill.

"Ugh. Shoot."

Izuku hugged Katsuki tighter. Katsuki noticed the pressure from the freckled boy, and patted him.

"But.. don't tell All Might, please? He doesn't want me to tell anyone.."

"Then why fucking tell me, huh?"

Izuku looked up to meet Katsuki's gaze, his red eyes shining against the sunset.

Izuku found Katsuki's eyes rather entrancing against the sun.. then he snapped back to reality.

"I-I just... I think it's fair for you to know, Kacchan. I think you deserve to know.."

Izuku buried his reddening face against Katsuki's chest, who was still patting him robotically.

"Fine."

Curious, Izuku raised his head just enough for his doe-like eyes to meet Katsuki's piercing yet weirdly calm ones.

"Hmm?"

"I won't tell anyone."

And so Izuku told Katsuki about it as they began their walk back home through the streets of the city.

"So, after seeing your quirkless ass selflessy rescue around like, what, seventy fucking losers in near-death situations, All Might decided there and then, for you to be his damn successor?!"

Katsuki shouted, and Izuku looked down as he twiddled with his fingers nervously.

"Y-yeah.."

Izuku felt a hand on his head and shoulder. Out of impulse on remembering his middle school days, he curled himself into a ball.

"KacchanpleasedontbemadatmeImsorry!"

Izuku cried in his curled-up ball form. Katsuki didn't know how to react to Izuku's behaviour right now; back then, he'd kick the living daylights out of him despite his vulnerable and teary form, but now, as friends, he doesn't know what to do..

Then his inner voice decided to speak.

 _Help him.._

 _Help him up.._

 _.._

 _FUCK YOU!_

Katsuki then did something that he hasn't done to anyone else before; extend his hand for someone to grab onto.

"I wasn't going to hurt you, idiot."

Once Izuku took notice of the hand being extended to him, he let out a smile and grabbed on to it, then lunging at Katsuki to hug him once he regained his footing.

 _Jeez, do you live on hugs or what?!_

Katsuki patted the green mass of hair in front of his face.

"Once a dumbass Deku, always a dumbass Deku."

Once Izuku released Katsuki from his hug, they continued walking and talking. They've reached a park near Izuku's apartment building, and Katsuki opted to sit down on one of the benches before he takes off for his own house.

"So, I guess you're not a quirkless Deku now, huh?"

Izuku nodded fervently with a smile. Katsuki patted him on his fluffy hair.

 _I like your damn hair, it's so soft. So fluffy._

"But you're still a stupid Deku at times."

Izuku smiled at Katsuki with his eyes closed and mouth in a wide grin. The sunlight reflected off him, making him look so pure and innocent.

 _You're a little piece of pure fucking sunshine, aren't you?_

Meanwhile, Izuku's having his own inner monologues.

 _I'd like to make Kacchan laugh! A joke would make Kacchan, laugh, right? Everyone loves jokes!_

 _Yes! A joke! Something in line with what Kacchan just said!_

"Ehhrmm, maybe it's because of that big dent I had on my head? My intelligence must've seeped out from it!"

Izuku continued smiling with a wide grin at Katsuki, but it soon dropped as he noticed Katsuki's pale face and petrified expression.

 _I don't think that was a good joke.._

Izuku waved his hands dismissively with much fervor.

"I'm kidding, Kacchan! I was just trying to make a joke!"

Katsuki looked at him with a monotone expression, and spoke in a monotone voice.

"That's not.. funny."

 _U-umm SAVE THE JOKE! T-that sounds like something All Might would say! Try saving it even though the outlook is bleak!_

"Jumping off a school roof must've affected my way of thinking then, don't you-!"

Katsuki suddenly grabbed Izuku by his shoulders. Izuku's nervous and frightful expression was no match for a petrified Katsuki.

"FUCKING PLEASE STOP THAT IZUKU!"

 _It must've given Kacchan flashbacks.._

"S-sorry! I guess that wasn't funny at all.."

Katsuki let go of Izuku's shoulders then he relaxed himself on the bench, breathing in and out, trying to calm himself down. The freckled boy was full of regret since what he thought would make Katsuki laugh only made the blonde look so.. scared.

"I-I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize."

"O-okay."

About five minutes of awkward silence overtook them as Katsuki stared into the now-bluing sky while Izuku twiddled with his fingers, occasionally sparing a worried glance at the blonde. Then Katsuki draped an arm over Izuku's shoulders and pulled the freckled boy closer to him, a sideways hug of sorts as they sat on the bench. Izuku looked confused at the action.

"Uh-umm?"

"Just let me, if you're okay with that."

Katsuki then brought Izuku even closer, to shoulder-rubbing distance, but the freckled boy was in a leaning position that made him uncomfortable. To remedy his discomfort, Izuku scooted closer to Katsuki and leaned his head against the blonde's shoulder.

"I-I'm okay with it, Kacchan. Anytime!"

They sat there, taking in each other's company as the sun faded and the streetlights lit up the evening atmosphere.

Izuku got too comfortable on Katsuki's shoulder and eventually fell into a deep sleep in a matter of minutes, much to Katsuki's dismay; no amount of poking or shaking would make the green-haired boy stir as he drooled on the blonde's shoulder.

 _Oh for fuck's sake now I have to carry you?!_

 _.._

 _Is that.. DROOL?! On my shoulder?! What the fuck, Deku?!_

Despite his explosive inner monologues, Katsuki couldn't help but calmly caress the boy's innocent and soft face, rubbing at his freckles, nose, and cheeks.

"Izuku..."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading yo! Feedback?**


	5. Curiousity

**About time I updated this, no?**

* * *

After a bunch of minutes of patting a sleeping Izuku, Katsuki carried the sleeping, drooling freckled boy bridal style to his apartment. It wasn't easy for Katsuki to carry the boy up the flights of stairs, but the blonde is strong so it wasn't hard for him either.

"Kacchan.."

Izuku would mumble and turn in his sleep, slightly irking Katsuki at the unwanted movement; Izuku almost rolled out of Katsuki's hold one time, but the blonde grabbed him just in time thanks to his reflexes.

"Mmm.. Kacchan.."

Izuku turned towards Katsuki's torso and hugged it tight, slightly constricting the blonde's movements on the last couple of floors to Izuku's apartment. Katsuki was irritated at the freckled boy's tight grip that made it harder to move, but he liked the feeling of Izuku hugging him, his warmth calming him down.

On finally reaching Izuku's apartment, Katsuki headbutted the doorbell a couple of times since his hands were occupied with the curly-haired, freckled boy. He heard some footsteps coming from behind the door, and soon it opened to the sight of Midoriya Inko.

"Oh, Katsuki! What brings you to-"

Inko then noticed her son on Katsuki's arms, hugging the blonde tightly as he slept. She found the sight really cute, which also gave her the strength to believe in the blonde's good intentions with her son.

"He sleeps like a rock."

Katsuki said as he yanked Izuku off him, then handing him over to Inko, who extended her arms to grab her son, who was still asleep despite the exchange.

"Well, that's Izuku for you."

Inko chuckled pleasantly as she took Izuku from Katsuki, going to the nearby couch and laying him gently on it. She came back to Katsuki shortly afterwards.

"Would you like some tea before you go? It's the least I could do for you after carrying him all the way here."

Katsuki lamented on agreeing or disagreeing, but seeing Izuku's peaceful, sleeping face and Inko's pleasant smile, he couldn't say no.

"Alright."

Inko smiled a bit more, and went out of the way to let Katsuki in, shutting the door after him. He sat on the couch, beside Izuku's curled up form, admiring how cute and peaceful the freckled boy looked.

 _Cute?! This shit again?! Cut this out now!_

Katsuki was cut off from his thoughts by the sounds of teacups clattering on the table in front of him. He looked at the porcelain as a cup of tea was offered to him by Inko.

"Careful now, it's hot."

Inko slowly handed over the cup to Katsuki, the heat not bothering him much. He took small sips, taking his time as the tea somewhat eased him.

"I'm glad you two are friends again, Katsuki. But to be honest, I'm still worried."

The words took Katsuki's attention from his tea to Inko, his ease being replaced with unease at once.

"You did bully him."

Those words shot at Katsuki's heart, and those words were the definite truth. He did bully Izuku back then, but not a day goes by that he forgets that he ever did.

He was the driving force that propelled Izuku off the school rooftop, after all.

"I know, and I'm.. sorry about that."

Katsuki replied lowly, not having his usual edge in it. He couldn't bear to look at Inko, who was probably staring him down at the moment; she did have the right to do so anyway.

"I'm trying to make it up to him."

Katsuki sets his teacup down, finished with its contents. He glances at Izuku before standing up to leave.

"Thanks for the tea. I'm just gonna go now."

Katsuki went for the door, desperate to get out of the house.

"Okay. Take care on your way home."

Katsuki nodded at Inko's words. Before he could reach for the doorknob, a pair of hands suddenly wrapped themselves around Katsuki's torso, startling him.

"Thank you, Kacchan."

Izuku was the one hugging him, and he liked the fact that the freckled boy saw him as his friend despite all of the things he put him through; Katsuki laments on it now and then. With a few pats on Izuku's hands, he lets go and Katsuki leaves their abode, closing the door behind him gently. Izuku cried tears of joy and hugged his mother, happy with having Katsuki as a friend.

* * *

The next day at school was uneventful as usual, save for the daily commotion that happens when Izuku bolts up from his seat when Katsuki comes to class and hugs him happily. They'd all clamor about how the short-tempered, foul-mouthed bomber would allow the nervous bundle of happiness who was Izuku to hug him; said bomber would respond with a carpet bombing of profanities.

Despite Katsuki's ill temper and vulgar mouth, the class actually found him to be rather likeable because he;

Talked to Kirishima regularly, who was on the verge of becoming his best buddy next to Izuku.

Helped Kaminari with his homework, making the electric blonde get higher scores on his work.

Talked to Ashido about battle techniques, asking in the process if the acid she spews are combustible.

Somewhat joked to Sero on how useful his tape would be on shutting people up.

Discussed with Uraraka some battle maneuvers that he could do when she would make him float.

Talked about music with Jirou, where they agreed a lot on many subtopics.

Assisted Momo with organizing some papers, who was relieved by the time saved with his help.

And helped Iida with cleaning up after class hours, who was stunned at first by the blonde who offered his help.

The rest of the class didn't bother him for now, who were still a bit wary of him. Others like Todoroki and Tokoyami preferred to be left alone.

Regardless, the day progressed nicely, and all of that change was thanks to Izuku. It would go on like this as the school year goes.

* * *

The school year went by fast, a lot of events happening along the way. The attempt to kidnap Katsuki still occured during their training camp trip, but was thwarted because Katsuki listened to his friends, namely Kirishima and Izuku. The battle between All Might and All For One still occured in a campaign to extinguish the source of villainy in the area in the name of safety and security. All For One was defeated at the expense of All Might losing One For All, yet it was still a victory.

The students still got their dorms, they were happy that they could bond even more thanks to it. Everyone was looking forward to it, even Katsuki. Second semester eventually struck, and they were overjoyed with the internships they've gotten.

* * *

"Yo Bakugou! Wanna hang out later?"

Eijirou hollered at Katsuki, who was lounging at the common room's couch, flipping around his smartphone. He put it aside and stared Eijirou dead in the eye, but without malice.

"Sure. Later."

Eijirou cheered and waved at Katsuki before heading up to his dorm room. Across Katsuki's couch, Izuku played on his smartphone, tapping rapidly on his screen; he was using One For All to increase his tapping speed, which was kind of hilarious to watch in Katsuki's eyes.

"Keep doing that and you might just 'Delaware Smash' your fucking phone."

Katsuki joked, and with perfect timing as Izuku lost in whatever game he was playing. He whined and tossed the phone aside, looking at Katsuki with dreary eyes.

"Awww.. I had a good score too."

Katsuki scoffed at Izuku's complaint, but went to him and ruffled his fluffy hair.

"It's just a stupid game, Izuku."

Katsuki ruffling Izuku's hair seemed to please the freckled boy, who smiled at Katsuki in response.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

Izuku lunged to hug Katsuki, who continued ruffling the freckled boy's hair with one hand, the other landing on his back to pat him. Satisfied, both parties parted, Izuku smiling and Katsuki looking at ease.

"Kirishima wants to hang out, so I'm gonna go out and hang the shitty hair on a tree."

Katsuki joked, with Izuku receiving it rather uneasily.

"Your jokes are so morbid, Kacchan!"

Katsuki chuckled and patted Izuku on his head, smirking.

"It's just a joke, so chill the fuck out."

Katsuki retracted his hand and started walking off in the direction of Eijirou's room.

"And you call my jokes morbid? You should've heard yourself joking to me about your 'attempt'."

The blonde added. Izuku froze with a mortified expression on his face. On seeing that, Katsuki went back to the freckled boy and ruffled his hair quickly to "ease him the fuck up".

"See ya later, Izuku."

Retracting his hand once again, Katsuki went for Eijirou's room, leaving a smiling Izuku who started a new game.

* * *

Katsuki and Eijirou hanged out. It had been hours since they took in each other's company, chatting and playing the day away. They were really close by now and could practically call themselves best friends, or best bros in the redhead's words.

Now the initial excitement of hanging out was gone, and the two were just lounging about in Eijirou's room, doing things on their smartphones.

"Hey Bakugou?"

A rather withheld voice rung from Eijirou, which was very uncharacteristic from his usual chirpy self. Katsuki tore his attention from his smartphone to the redhead.

"What?"

Eijirou had a pensive look on his face, as if he was worried about something.

"Mind if I... tell you something?"

The redhead's voice was really withheld, and it irked Katsuki.

"Yeah? What?"

Eijirou stood up from his position on his bed and sat down beside Katsuki, on the floor. The blonde eyed him, eyebrow raised up.

"It's just.. you're still my bro no matter what, right? Regardless of how I.. view things?"

Eijirou's constant stalling irked Katsuki some more; he just wanted for the redhead to spit it out already.

"Yeah, fucking whatever. Just tell me."

And with that, Eijirou inhaled, and exhaled deeply, preparing himself.

* * *

Izuku happened to be passing by, wanting to ask Katsuki if he had any plans for the weekend. He knew he was in Eijirou's room so he stopped by there. Once he's face to face with the redhead's door, he overheard something that Eijirou said before his hand landed on the doorknob.

"Just fucking tell me already! Quit dodging!"

"I-I'm gay, Bakugou."

Hearing Eijirou confess to Katsuki made something bubble up in Izuku. He instantly felt scared that Katsuki might do something rash or say something that would hurt Eijirou. This was Katsuki, after all. But once he heard Eijirou cry, and Katsuki's grunts of "stop fucking crying I don't hate you", he felt a tinge of something.. something that felt like satisfaction and happiness, knowing that his childhood friend can be someone who can be confided on now.

He withheld his question for now, not wanting to interrupt this tear-jerking moment that Katsuki and Eijirou were having.

* * *

Later in the night, after burning through research papers and manga, Izuku went to Katsuki's room upstairs, wanting to ask his question already. Stopping in front of the blonde's door, he knocked. The door swung open halfway after a moment, messy blonde hair peeking out of the opening.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in, Kacchan?"

Izuku asked with a blinding smile. Katsuki grunted and stepped aside to let the freckled boy in, closing the door as he got in his room. Izuku seated himself on Katsuki's bed, still smiling.

"What's with that look on your face?"

Katsuki questioned Izuku's look, who smiled even more.

"Well, I heard Kirishima tell you something, and you helped him with it."

Some tears welled up on Izuku's eyes, emotional tears.

"Kacchan today is a really far cry from the Kacchan I knew years ago.."

Izuku tear's flowed freely from his eyes, which were accompanied by rather cute sounding sniffling. Katsuki, being the person he is now, sat down beside Izuku and patted him, letting the freckled boy's head rest on his shoulders.

"You heard that, huh?"

"Mmhmm.."

Izuku hummed, clutching at Katsuki's arm. The blonde patted the sobbing boy on his back, trying to sooth him. After patting and rubbing comforting circles on Izuku's back for some time, the freckled boy stopped crying, and sat himself up on the bed, sending a caring look to the blonde.

"Sorry."

Katsuki clicked his tongue and brought out a handkerchief to clean some of Izuku's dried up tears on his cheeks.

"Don't fucking apologize, you didn't do anything."

"Well.. I've cried and maybe wasted your time-"

"You didn't, so just shut it."

Izuku froze for a few seconds, smiled, and nodded, then Katsuki continued cleaning his teary face. Once done, the blonde sighed, wanting to know why Izuku was here in his room in the first place.

"Since that's done with, what do you want?"

"Oh right! I was going to ask if you had plans in the weekend. Maybe we could hang out, Kacchan?"

Katsuki sat there, probably thinking about it. Izuku looked to him with a smile plastered on his face, eager for his answer.

"I'm gonna go and do shit with Kirishima on the weekend."

Izuku's smile slowly faltered.

"Oh. O-oka-"

"I'll tell him you're coming, how about that?"

Izuku perked up, conflicted. If Eijirou wanted to hang out with Katsuki, then he surely didn't want to get in the way of them.

 _Maybe.. they're dating after what Kirishima told him?_

"But.. isn't a date between just two people?"

Izuku mentally facepalmed on himself for the statement. Katsuki looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but he looked nonchalant in general. He looked scarier like that; a blank Katsuki is an unpredictable Katsuki.

"Are you saying I'm gay, Izuku?"

The blonde said flatly and with a neutral look on his face, save for his raised eyebrow. It made Izuku really nervous, anticipating this as the "calm before the storm". Izuku started stammering uncontrollably as a result.

"N-no! Wait! I-I mean yeah! B-but it has something t-to do with Kirishisma, r-right? After what h-he umm.. aaahh said to you earlier, I thought it was a da-!"

Katsuki' hand landed on his mouth, shutting him up. After a few seconds, the blonde retracted his hand, Izuku's mouth still gaping. The freckled boy smiled sheepishly.

"I-I'm sor-"

"I'm not angry at you, so calm the hell down. And I said I'll never hurt you again, so don't be like that."

Katsuki poked at Izuku's cheeks, relishing in the rather cute sight of the boy's cheeks being squished thanks to remnants of the baby fat in them.

"I'm sor-"

Katsuki's face scrunched at him, and he poked Izuku some more. Knowing that Katsuki does not want anymore apologies, he redirected himself to a different topic.

"I-I mean u-umm…"

Izuku fidgeted with his fingers, thinking of a question. Katsuki's face didn't look scrunched anymore, relieving him. He then thought of something.

 _Is Kacchan okay with things like these?_

"Would you be.. against it? D-dating boys, I mean.. and umm.. isn't someone confessing stuff like that mean.. they like you?"

The question stood in the air, and Katsuki appeared to be deep in thought, his head facing the ceiling. Then his eyeballs shifted to Izuku's, like an eagle, startling the freckled boy.

"Never thought about, and I never really cared about relationships. I just think they get in the way."

Katsuki said as he lied down on his bed, putting his hands under his head. Izuku looked at him, Katsuki noticing and reciprocating the stare.

"But.. you're not against it, right? And if a boy confesses to you.. would you umm.. r-reciprocate?"

The question stood again in the air, but much longer this time. It was so deathly silent, they could hear the silent airconditioner humming. Then Katsuki coughed and spoke.

"No, I ain't fucking against it. And for that other question, it depends on the person."

Katsuki's statement made Izuku feel very relieved.. and way too happy. He tilted his head a bit sideways.

"O-oh.. okay."

 _I feel… happy? Way too happy.. Why?_

Katsuki huffed and snapped his fingers at the dazed and smiling boy, who snapped back to his senses after hearing the sharp sound.

"Meet me and Kirishima later at the common room by five pm. We're going somewhere so don't be late."

Izuku nodded rapidly, clasping his hands together.

"Of course Kacchan! But.. would he be okay with it?"

Izuku referred to Eijirou, who might not want other than the blonde's company. Katsuki replied with a curt nod and a finger gesture.

"Yeah. I know so."

The freckled boy nodded in affirmation. Izuku then stood up and went for the door, waving at Katsuki with much fervor.

"Well, see you Kacchan! And thanks for answering my questions!"

Izuku was halfway outside of the blonde's room, but he froze for a bit as hands suddenly latched onto his shoulders, taking him off guard.

"Just a sec, Deku."

Katsuki hugged Izuku from behind, wrapping his arms around the shorter boy's torso, and his taller self burying his face on the boy's curly, fluffy hair. Soon, he released, and patted Izuku on his head.

"Alright. Later."

Katsuki walked back to his room, gently shutting the door behind him. Smiling, Izuku walked back to his room with a hop to his step, feeling very cheerful. Once back to his All Might-laden room, he plopped himself face-down on his bed, burying his face onto his pillow and smiling to himself, even giggling momentarily.

 _I never really took Kacchan for the hugging and hair-ruffling type.. but he only does it with me, as far as I know.._

…

 _Does that mean I'm special to Kacchan?_

* * *

 **I have a thing for Kiri confessing his gayness (obsession with manliness lol), especially to soft Bakubro too.**

 **And Kirishima's confession is not just for show. It'll be relevant to the plot!**

 **Well anyway, thanks for reading!**


	6. Interaction

**A'ight! New update!**

* * *

Izuku was lying on the ground, and he didn't know why. All he knew was that his cheek was pressed against the concrete pavement, and that he could smell iron all over. Looking at the concrete below him, he found red. Blood was all over his immediate area; his hero costume was soaked in blood, he felt blood trickle down from his forehead, and he could feel even more blood gush out from his side.

He can't recall on how he got to this situation.

"You shit Deku! You're still alive?!"

He recognized that voice, that nickname..

He tilted his head towards the source of the voice, only for him to be grabbed by the collar of his shirt by the individual. Izuku immediately made out blonde spiky hair, blood-red eyes filled with rage, and grenade-shaped gauntlets..

"Ka-Kacchan?"

The individual, who just so happened to be Katsuki, threw Izuku back to the concrete pavement viciously, who yelped out a scream of pain.

Then Katsuki kicked him over to face him, the blonde dug the heel of his boots on Izuku's bleeding injury on his side; Izuku screamed at the intense pain, and started crying.

"Kacchan.. w-what're you doing? Why?"

Katsuki smirked evilly from side to side. Then a figure appeared behind him, patting the blonde. Izuku immediately recognized the disembodied hands and the person's pale skin..

Shigaraki.

"Well now, Midoriya. Did you actually think your childhood friend here was with you all along?"

Behind the two, he saw bodies; the bodies of his classmates and teachers, all bloody and bleeding, some disfigured, some with burn marks, but most definitely dead. Izuku was mortified.

Katsuki grabbed Izuku's throat, smirking evilly as he started squeezing it.

"Alright, Bakugou. Make this quick. We have to go soon."

Shigaraki mentioned as he went somewhere behind Katsuki, towards the bodies of his dead friends. Izuku's attention went from Shigaraki to Katsuki as the blonde's grip on his throat increased.

"Did you actually think I was ever your friend, you useless piece of shit?"

Izuku struggled to breath, attempting to take deep breaths as the constrictive hand on his throat continued to suffocate him.

"Kacchan.. p-please-"

"You will always be under me… now you'll be even lower! Six feet under the ground!"

Katsuki's grip on Izuku's throat increased some more, limiting the freckled boy's air intake. Izuku tried to fight back by attempting to pry the blonde's hands away from his throat. Unfortunately for him, he was already too weak from his injuries and blood loss.

"I killed the ones that thought they were my so-called 'friends' last. So fucking satisfying. I had a good time killing shitty hair, impaling that fuck on a spear and watching him bleed as he begged and died, that faggot piece of shit. Then sparky, that alien bitch, soy sauce face. Ah, it was so fucking fun watching them bleed and die, one by one."

Katsuki's boot dug deeper into Izuku's injury, making it bleed even more and Izuku screaming in pain.

"I saved you for last. The best for last, you piece of fucking shit. It'll be so satisfying watching you suffocate and fucking die, once and for all."

Katsuki's hands were now in full force, and were heating up. The blonde's grip was strong, as if trying to squeeze his neck off of his head.

"So go and die now, you fucking Deku."

The pressure increased on his throat, and the last thing Izuku saw before he blacked out was Katsuki's smile, sadistic and merciless.

* * *

"No! Kacchan! Please!"

Izuku rose up from his bed with such speed, then frantically looking around his surroundings. His surroundings were full of All Might merchandise; it was his room. He let out a long, witheld sigh of relief.

"Just a nightmare.. just a nightmare.."

He repeated the mantra, taking deep breaths in-between, and constantly reminding himself that he's alright. Then his door burst open, startling the freckled boy who let out a startled yelp; it was Katsuki.

"You. You fucking alright? Deku?"

Katsuki had a look of worry on his face, a rather surprising expression to a be found on the blonde's face. He approached Izuku, extending a hand.

Izuku, thanks to scenes from his dream coming into his head, scrambled away from Katsuki due to it on unwanted reflex. Katsuki stopped walking towards Izuku, eyeing the freckled boy's scared expression being directed at him.

"Izuku?"

Katsuki's voice was low and calm, trying to assure the freckled boy that everything's alright. Izuku's expression softened a bit, but was still notably scared.

"K-Kacchan?"

"Yeah?"

Izuku looked at him with scared eyes, but Katsuki cautiously approached the freckled boy. Once the blonde got on the bed, Izuku lunged at him, sending the blonde down to the bed as the green-haired boy hugged him tightly, tears streaming down his face.

"You'll never do that, Kacchan. Right? You're not a villain.. you're not a villain. You'll never want to be one.."

Izuku muttered out as his grip on Katsuki became tighter. Katsuki hugged him back and patted his back repeatedly, rubbing his back in the process to soothe him.

"You're my friend. You'll never be a villain, right Kacchan? You're Kacchan, my best friend.."

Izuku cried his heart out, clutching at Katsuki as if he's his lifeline. Katsuki ruffled the boy's hair as he hugged back some more.

"You'll never kill your friends.. you'll never kill me. You promised me, right Kacchan? You promised me.."

Katsuki grabbed Izuku by his shoulders, pulling him away from the hug. The blonde stared at the freckled boy intensely, yet4 it wasn't malicious but concerning.

"Whatever it was you dreamed of, it's fucking nothing. It's fucking nothing, you hear me?"

Katsuki patted Izuku's shoulders, easing his stare at the boy.

"I'm not a villain. I'm you're friend. I'll never kill you, or anyone that doesn't deserve it, got that?"

Izuku's tears subsided a bit, and he lightly nodded, sniffling. Katsuki hummed, and pulled him back for a hug.

"Good. Now calm the fuck down. We're already going."

Katsuki patted Izuku's back one last time, then he stood up from the bed. The blonde looked at the freckled boy one last time before he reached for the doorknob.

"R-right. Sorry-"

Katsuki's raised eyebrow made him change his words.

"I-I mean o-okay, Kacchan."

A small smile morphed on Katsuki's mouth, making Izuku smile a bit as well.

"Thank you."

Katsuki opened the door and stepped out halfway, looking at Izuku one last time to see if he's alright by now.

"Yeah yeah. We'll wait for you at the common room."

Katsuki then closed the door softly behind him, leaving Izuku alone, yet calmed down from his situation earlier.

"Kacchan said so himself. He's my friend. He'll never be a villain."

Izuku breathed in and out in relief. Then he remembered that he had to ready up for his outing with Katsuki and Eijirou.

"Now where did I put my outside clothes…?"

* * *

Once Izuku found his outside clothes, a pair of jeans, a beige jacket, and a red checkered polo, he exited his room post-haste, and rushed for the common room. He found Eijirou and Katsuki interacting on the couches, the blonde shoving the redhead away from him in a playful manner, a grin on his face. The scene made Izuku smile as the two started laughing at each other.

"Uhh.. hello."

Izuku smiled at the two as he waved at them. His statement garnered the attention of the two, looking to face them. Kirishima then waved back.

"Buddy Midoriya! Yo!"

"Kirishima! Hello!"

Midoriya waved back with much more fervor at Kirishima. Huffing, Bakugou then approached them, tapping at their shoulders.

"It's time to fucking go, so let's go."

The blonde huffed again and walked away from the two. Izuku and Kirishima patted each other on their shoulders as they started to follow behind Bakugou. The group walked along the campus, passing by the main building until they went past the UA barrier.

"Kirishima. Did Kacchan tell you.. umm.."

"Yeah, he told me that you heard. Don't worry buddy, we're cool."

Kirishima patted Izuku on his back, eliciting some nervous laughter from the freckled boy. Bakugou noticed the two's interactions and stared at them. The blonde looked behind him and stared at them for a moment. Izuku noticed the blonde's short stare and smiled at him. The blonde shot him a small smile before looking away.

"How'd you two get along? He's like the short-tempered guy who would explodo-kill anyone who looked at him funny. And you're like the uhh… really nice and nervous guy who looks like as if you'd ehrmm.. no offense, cry at anything.."

Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously at the statement. Izuku just smiled at him in return.

"Well.. I guess I just understand Kacchan really well, haha.."

"Yeah, I suppose you do. You two are childhood friends, right?"

"Yes we are! We've been friends since we were little kids in preschool! We'd go and play tag around the neighborhood, hang out at each other's houses..."

Izuku went on and on about his childhood experiences with Katsuki, recalling every single event and every single detail in it to Kirishima. Katsuki overheard the freckled boy's lively chatter with Kirishima, a bit amazed on how Izuku was able to recall every single detail about him and their experiences. It made him smile and feel weird.. warm inside.

He shook those thoughts away.

After walking around and listening to Eijirou and Izuku's animated chatter, Katsuki and company have finally reaching the shopping center. They didn't have a concrete goal in mind but to look around the shops and just hang out, and eat somewhere good.

They walked around the shopping center, stopping at numerous clothing shops; Eijirou bought numerous tank tops, shorts, and sleeveless hoodies. Bakugou bought similar clothing items while Izuku bought a bunch of plain jeans and single color tee shirts. After going clothes shopping, they went to a ramen house for dinner, sitting on a couch table. They looked at the menu and made their choices.

"So, that's all you two are having?"

"Yep!"

Katsuki asked the two, who replied animatedly. The blonde then nodded and took off for the counter, placing their order. Eijirou and Izuku were now left alone on the table.

Izuku and Eijirou stayed silent, looking at their smartphones to pass the time; there was a line on the counter, and from what Izuku saw, Katsuki was heavily restraining himself from blowing up everyone in front of him, the blonde's hands shaking and his teeth gritting against each other. Katsuki noticed the freckled boy's gaze on him, and the following smile that he shot him. Katsuki noticeably calmed down at that, and redirected his gaze towards the counter. Izuku continued observing his friend.

"You've been looking at him for five minutes, Midoriya.."

Eijirou's voice yanked the freckled boy's attention to the redhead, his face slightly flustered. Eijirou was smiling at him.

"W-well.. I-I uhh.."

"Hehe.. you like him, don't you?"

Eijirou's statement left Izuku speechless and his face even more flustered than before. Eijirou then burst out laughing, covering his mouth to drown out the noise he was making. Once his laughter has calmed down, he looked at Izuku.

"It's just that.. you talk about him a lot! You know a lot about him and with a lot of detail too! And when you talk about him, you'd space out and have this dreamy look in your eyes, your face would turn a bit red also! Oh and there's-"

"I-I did?! M-my face? Red? I-I.. W-well it's just that I k-know a lot about him a-and I uhh.."

Eijirou reached out from across the table to pat Izuku's shoulders, a smile adorning his face as he did.

"You can talk to me about it, Midoriya."

Eijirou's voice was low and caring, and it made Izuku calm down, the boy taking deep breaths to soothe himself as the redhead rubbed his shoulder to help. Once Eijirou retracted his hand and sat down on his seat, Izuku cleared his throat and gave the redhead a sincere look.

"I just.. have a question for you first.."

"Shoot, man."

Izuku breathed in, and out, calming himself before asking.

"Do you like him? Kacchan, I mean."

Izuku lowered his head out of embarrassment and buried his lower face on his right hand, his left hand fidgeting with its fingers. Eijirou smiled at him and sighed contentedly.

"Honestly? A bit, yeah. When we started talking, I got to know more about him, and I got attracted to him more. At first, I liked him because he definitely looks hot. I mean, look at all of his manly muscles, damn.."

Eijirou rested his head on his right arm as it rested on the table, a dreamy look on his eyes. Izuku blushed as Eijirou talked about Katsuki's figure since images of said blonde, smiling and shirtless, appeared in his head; he definitely agreed.

"But ya know what? Underneath that explodey, short-tempered guy, is actually someone that looks out for those he values, and he'd definitely take care and protect of the ones he loves.."

"Yeah..."

Izuku sighed in agreement, resting his head on the table; he had those dreamy eyes and a slight blush now. Eijirou noticed and chuckled at the boy.

"There you go again, Midoriya. Haha!"

Izuku snapped out of his reverie, raising his head so fast he hit his head on the seat's headrest. His blush intensified as he looked at Eijirou chuckling, then he covered his face with his hands.

"I-I what?! I-I-"

Eijirou continued chuckling as Izuku covered his flustered face with his hands. After a minute, Izuku slowly put down his hands, and by then Eijirou had stopped chuckling.

"Why don't you go and tell him?"

Izuku's face lost coloration at the statement, and his irises shrunk. Concern showed on Eijirou's face.

"Midoriya?"

Izuku didn't respond. Eijirou poked the freckled boy on his shoulder, making the boy jolt in surprise.

"O-oh! I-I'm just.. scared.."

"He's your childhood friend. And from what I've heard from you, he has changed a whole damn lot."

"What about you? Don't you want to do that?"

Eijirou's face slightly dropped for a second, then he went back to smiling, chuckling in the process. Izuku caught the slight change on Eijirou's face, his eyebrows drooping in response.

"I kinda did that, Midoriya. I dropped hints, and he noticed. He only sees me as a friend. I'm cool with it, though. He's a great friend."

Izuku smiled; the freckled boy still looked a bit sad, yet he was happy that Katsuki didn't shoo Eijirou away for that.

"You've known each other for a long time, so maybe he might see you like that."

Eijirou's statement made Izuku freeze. Yes, he was unsure of his feelings towards Katsuki, but he kept on thinking it was just platonic appreciation. Lately, however, he thinks it has crossed those boundaries. Izuku's blush came back. He twiddled with his fingers out of nervousness.

"W-well.. I-I'm not even sure if I really do like him. I believe I just admire him a lot.."

Izuku placed his arms on the table then rested his head on them, sighing heavily. His round, doe-like eyes looked at Eijirou, who went to ruffle his hair.

"Well, Midoriya. Tell me how you feel about him, as honestly as you can. I can tell if what you're saying is just admiration or if you do like him."

No response from Izuku.

"I won't judge, bro! You can tell me! Trust me, I won't be jealous!"

Eijirou added with a smile. Only then did Izuku respond by breathing in rapidly, then he started telling Eijirou about Katsuki in more vivid detail.

Izuku started from how he felt about him during middle school, then after a certain event that made the blonde way nicer to him, not going into detail for Eijirou's sake, then after that the time when the blonde protected him from his bullies, then to the times they hanged out and the entrance exam arguments, then the time when Katsuki carried him asleep to his apartment, then stopping at the most recent event which was the blonde caring for Izuku after his nightmare of him being a villain; Izuku put way too much emphasis on Katsuki's niceness, caring looks, and smiles. Eijirou was touched at Izuku's stories, making him cry "manly" tears.

"Yeah, you definitely like him. There's no point in denying it, man. For one, you're having that dreamy and flustered look again."

Izuku did his "covering his face with his arms and hands" act, making him look silly yet adorable. Eijirou poked his arms, being playful at the moment.

"You could confess to him about your feelings in a few days. I mean, I've just sorta confessed to him so I guess give him time to recover?"

After a few more pokes, Izuku put his arms on the table, a nervous smile on his lips and his gaze going and lingering to the blonde who was already ordering at the counter.

"O-okay. I'll try doing that."

He said sheepishly. Eijirou grinned madly at him then he did a fist pump gesture.

"I'll be rooting for ya, man!"

After a few more fist pump gestures from Eijirou, which Izuku chuckled at, Katsuki went back to the table with a number stand and sat beside Izuku, slightly rubbing shoulders with the freckled boy.

"Ten to fifteen minutes for the damn food. So we're gonna have to fucking wait.."

"Aww. And I was so hungry too.."

Eijirou frowned at not being able to eat already, him being the hungriest of the two. Katsuki flicked the redhead's nose playfully, eliciting a mock "ow" from him. Izuku watched them playfully bicker afterwards and Izuku found the scene endearing. Katsuki then flicked Izuku's nose out of nowhere, the freckled boy eliciting a real "ow" from him; Katsuki rubbed Izuku's nose in response, and Eijirou playfully punched Katsuki on his shoulder. The blonde stuck his tongue out at the redhead, to which he chuckled at. Izuku stuck his tongue out at Katsuki afterwards, to which the blonde did the same to him. They chuckled lightly at each other's childishness.

And so, after waiting AKA messing around for fifteen minutes, their food finally arrived. The trio dug in at their ramen immediately, and Eijirou even went to the counter to order seconds for the three when they weren't satisfied. In short, they ate a lot of food in the restaurant, save for Izuku who didn't order much and just stared at the blonde beside him after eating, looking at his genuine smile as he joked with Eijirou.

 _Maybe I do like Kacchan after all.._

* * *

 **Thanks for reading once again! Do tell me your thoughts on it if you want!**


	7. Discussion

**Delayed due to procrastination, but here it is! The next chapter!**

* * *

When Izuku tried to sleep later that night, he couldn't. His thoughts kept him awake, thoughts about Katsuki and how he would react to his confession, which were mostly negative in nature; it ranged from being laughed at, mocked, to even getting beat up over it. Flashbacks of Katsuki in middle-school, the blonde bullying him specifically, appeared in his head. Izuku got frustrated at that.

"Kacchan would never do that to me anymore!"

Izuku let out a hushed scream on his pillow, being mindful not to wake up the others in the building, namely Katsuki, despite being floors apart. He would repeat the same sentence like a mantra until he got tired and eventually fell asleep.

* * *

Izuku found himself alone in the classroom with Katsuki, who was leaning against the wall, eyeing him impatiently. It was dusk, and class has ended. For the most part, Izuku was perplexed on how he got there in the first place; he definitely remembers going to sleep, and that it's summer vacation.

"I don't have all day Deku. What is it?"

"W-what's what?"

Katsuki's impatience grew even more as evidenced by his more furrowed eyebrows, though he was trying his best to not blow up on Izuku. The blonde sighed heavily before speaking.

"What did you want to tell me that we had to be very damn alone, hm?"

The freckled boy shrank into his seat as cold sweat adorned his forehead, realizing what he's supposed to say. Peeking a little at Katsuki, he found the blonde looking a bit concerned at him.

 _This is just a dream, I know it is. Telling him here.. wouldn't hurt, right? This is like a test?_

"What the fuck's the matter? Tell me now and you can stop shrinking into your goddamn seat."

Katsuki's impatient voice snapped Izuku out of his thoughts. He figured this was some kind of "test dream" to see how Katsuki would react to him and his confession. Izuku gulps down a heavy lump on his throat before speaking.

"Kacchan.. I uh, I have these weird feeling towards you that I can't really explain. All I know is that.. I like being around you, and seeing you happy makes me happy too.."

Izuku shrank into his seat again shortly after his speech, this time he's covering his head using his arms, as if he's bracing for an attack, shivering. After about ten seconds of silence, Izuku peeks to look at Katsuki, who seemed to have an unreadable expression on his face.

Suddenly, Katsuki vanished, and Izuku's surroundings soon followed, leaving him and his desk chair seemingly standing on a black void. Slowly, Izuku stood up from his desk chair, which then vanished as he left it, startling him.

A moment later, a black silhouette then formed in front of Izuku when he was looking away. Izuku observed the silhouhette on noticing it, which then manifested as Katsuki in his middle school uniform; the look on his face was absolutely menacing, putting Izuku in a state of unease.

"Kacchan?"

Katsuki made an explosion on his right hand, which echoed throughout the void. His look intensified as well, looking more and more displeased, disgusted with Izuku. He started to walk towards him.

"Still calling me that you shitty Deku?! Who the fuck said you can call me that anyway, huh faggot?!"

Izuku was taken by surprise at Katsuki's hostility towards him, which he last seen on that day he jumped off his school's roof. He took on a defensive stance in response to Katsuki's actions.

"K-Kacchan! What're you saying?! What happened to you?!"

Before he knew it, Katsuki was in front of him, wrapping his hand around Izuku's throat then squeezing; Katsuki was attempting to choke him.

"Nothing happened to me, you fuck! You're the one that went to a whole new fucking level of shitty! First, you had to be useless, now you're a faggot?! To me?! Now why don't you be a good little fuckface and just die, huh? I'll finish what you failed to do; dying."

Katsuki's grip increased, and so did the pressure on Izuku's throat, prompting the latter to try removing Katsuki's hands, but he couldn't. One For All didn't seem to be activating either. He could barely breath already.

"K-Kacchan... p-please.."

Izuku chanced a glance at Katsuki's eyes, red and burning with hate, anger, disgust, and sadistic satisfaction. He was loving the sight of Izuku dying before him and by his hands. He was smirking devilishly.

Suddenly, an explosion directs itself at Katsuki's face, sending him flying a few feet back, and releasing his chokehold on Izuku in the process. Izuku took heavy breaths, needing the oxygen. He closed his eyes from the bright light of the explosion, and his ears were ringing from the close proximity of it, but he could hear his name being called for some reason.

"Izuku! Izuku! Hey!"

Izuku found himself being dragged upwards by someone, making him stand up. He opened his eyes slowly, and he saw Katsuki, this time in his Yuuei uniform; he looked very concerned, if not worried.

"Izuku! You okay?"

Izuku blinked, and was now confused, but he nodded anyway for him. Wasn't Katsuki attempting to kill him just earlier? Looking behind Yuuei Katsuki, he saw Middle-School Katsuki, who was starting to get up, and looked ready to kill.

Yuuei Katsuki patted him on his shoulder, and turned to face Middle-School Katsuki, smirking and looking eager to blow the other one up.

"Stand back, Izuku! This fucker is not getting past me!"

 _Wait.. two Kacchans?_

Explosions erupted on Middle-School Katsuki's palms, matching his murderous expression. Yuuei Katsuki on the other hand, was poised to defend Izuku. He prepared his hands to create a counter-explosion, anticipating other Katsuki's own. Izuku stood behind Yuuei Katsuki as told by him.

"You're protecting that useless piece of shit Deku?!"

Middle-School Katsuki lunged forward at Yuuei Katsuki, yelling at the top of his lungs in anger, and an explosion erupted from his outstretched hand, aiming for him. Yuuei Katsuki countered it with his own explosion, and stood in front of Izuku to shield him from the blast.

"He's not Deku! He's Izuku, my fucking friend! I'm gonna kill you, you pathetic excuse of myself that I should've burned long ago! "

Middle-School Katsuki snarled at Yuuei Katsuki's statement, which escalated into an angry, guttural growl. Yuuei Katsuki turned more defensive as a result.

"I said I'd protect him! And I'll redeem myself with what you've done by taking all of your shit for him! Even if it means getting burnt!"

Yuuie Katsuki's statement angered Middle-School Katsuki. Explosions erupted from the latter's hands, and his eyes started to glow red, angry and violent. He then lunged at Yuuei Katsuki.

"Then you know what?! Fucking burn, fag lover!"

"Fuck you, fuckface! I'll take you to hell with me!"

Izuku was alarmed by Yuuei Katsuki's statement, and was even more alarmed when the two Katsuki's exchanged explosions at the same time. From his peripheral vision, Izuku saw a door form at the side, opening itself for him. Seeing a chance for escape, he grabbed Yuuei Katsuki's free wrist on impulse, and desperately tugged at him.

"Kacchan! You don't have to do this! We can just go now-!"

Yuuei Katsuki shook Izuku's hand off his wrist, making Izuku's concern grow even more.

"This piece of shit did a lot of bad things to you, and I aim to make up for them! If I go with you, nothing's gonna restrain this asswipe! Now get out of here!"

"But-"

Katsuki looked at him from the side momentarily, giving him a vicious glare that was meant to scare him off.

"I did say I'd protect you, right?! I'm not running away from what I did to you! I'm gonna deal with it, you hear me?! Now get fucking moving!"

And so, with that last outburst from Yuuei Katsuki, Izuku shook his head to re-align his mind, and he ran for the door, and into the dark room. The door soon closed behind him, and the sound of a really deafening explosion soon followed from the other side of the door, then the actual explosion tore through the door shortly afterwards, which hit Izuku straight-on. He stared at the bright mass of fire and heat before being blinded and engulfed by it.

Then he woke up.

-x

Izuku washed his face repeatedly on the sink in his bathroom as soon as he woke up. Apparently, dreaming of two Katsukis, one hostile and one friendly, was too much for him to take in at first. He sighed heavily at the sink, leaning down on it. His dream/nightmare also made him oversleep a bit, resulting in him waking up before noon, and entirely missing breakfast.

"Was that some kind of warning? To not tell Kacchan? Or maybe.. that he'll be okay with it...?"

The dream sent so many mixed messages to Izuku that he started mumbling about the numerous possibilities and meanings of his dream/nightmare. On realizing he overstayed in his bathroom, Izuku hurried to properly wash his face and brush his teeth, and he was out of the bathroom in about three minutes. He plopped down on his bed again, and contemplated talking to Katsuki.

 _I need to talk to Kacchan.._

Izuku grabbed his phone texted Katsuki to meet him at the park they stopped to rest at nights ago. Katsuki asked why, and Izuku told him that he just wants to talk. The blonde agreed, but changed the meeting place to a nearby ramen house since he wants to eat lunch there. The freckled boy agreed with him, and soon he was out of his dorm, hungry and wanting to talk to Katsuki.

* * *

Katsuki sat on a window seat so Izuku can see him as soon as he's near the place. And as he predicted, Izuku noticed and waved at him from a not so far-off distance, seeing him due to his position. Katsuki waved back, and Izuku quickly made his way to the restaurant. Once inside, he sat across from Katsuki, who was looking at the menu.

"Hi Kacchan!"

Izuku greeted Katsuki, who responded with a quiet hum. They sat in silence for a while as the blonde scanned the menu. Once he was done, he handed the menu to Izuku.

"Here. Take your pick."

Izuku accepted the menu, and looked at the menu. Soon, an awkward expression morphed on his face as he looked at the prices, then he set the menu down in front of him slowly.

"Kacchan.. I don't have enough for anything here-"

"I'm paying. Now pick."

Izuku let out a strangled sound, making him cover his mouth to prevent any more weird noises from coming out due to his nervousness. He flushed scarlet red as well.

 _Kacchan is offering to pay for me! It's like a.. a date!_

Izuku shook his head rapidly with his eyes closed, making Katsuki look at him as if he was crazy. Then the blonde's voice snapped him out.

"Oi, Izuku. If you don't pick, I'll pick for you, and it's gonna be so damn spicy."

"O-okay! I'm okay! I-I mean okay I'll pick!"

Izuku picked up the menu, albeit in a rushed, shaking, and awkard manner to which it slipped off his hands a number of times, and he made sure it covered his face. Meanwhile, Katsuki stretched his hand from across the table, reaching towards Izuku's hair, and ruffling it.

"Jeez, just what is with you? Calm the hell down, Izuku. "

Izuku seemed to shake much less under Katsuki's touch, and even leaned towards his hand. Izuku hummed in satisfaction, and Katsuki patted him as he finished.

After that, Katsuki called for the waiter and had their orders listed down. As they waited for their orders, the two sat in silence, save for Izuku's quiet yet audible nervous mumbling as he fidgeted with his fingers simultaneously. Seeing that Izuku won't be starting anything, Katsuki went first.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Izuku paled at Katsuki's question, fully knowing that he's here and supposed to tell him about his feelings, yet he feels conflicted if he should tell him the full story, half of it, or fabricate something utterly stupid.

 _If I keep this up for any longer, it'll just distract me. I should just tell Kacchan. He won't hurt me because of that, I'm sure of it!_

 _He's not like that anymore.. Surely he would understand?_

And so, Izuku steeled himself, and started to speak. He decided that telling him everything would put it all to rest.

"Kacchan, I uhh.. Well, I feel weird around you. Like, when you're around, I feel happy. When you try calming me down, I feel much happier too. Knowing that you care for me makes me feel very warm and fuzzy, and I feel like just hugging you and staying with you forever. But most of all, Kacchan.. I'm happiest when I think of the fact that you went from bullying me.. to helping and protecting me.. thinking of me as a friend. Knowing that you changed for me, really made me super happy, you know? There's also the fact that I thought of kissing you.. Wait, did I think of that yet or was it just now-"

Katsuki cut him off abruptly with a finger pressed to his lips, effectively shushing the freckled boy.

"You're gonna mumble, and that last part was enough. I get it."

Once Katsuki took his finger away, Izuku shut his eyes and nodded rapidly with a scarlet red blush on his face as he sweated nervously. Once Izuku slowly opened his eyes, he saw Katsuki looking to the side with a contemplative look on his face. He also thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him since he's seeing the tips of Katsuki's ears as being flushed a bit.

"So, you see me like that?"

Izuku slowly nodded with a scared look on his face. Katsuki grunted and sighed afterwards.

"For your sake, Izuku, don't."

On hearing that, Izuku stared at him in disbelief, eyes wide open and mouth slightly agape like a fish. Katsuki grunted in return, giving him a dismissive look.

"Perhaps you've fucking forgotten what I've done to you? Open your eyes, Izuku! I can't always control myself and what I did can happen again!"

Then Katsuki gripped at Izuku's shoulders, putting the freckled boy in a slight state of unease.

"You don't get it, do you? My hands, they explode, they hurt. They kill. I'm not a person for lovey-dovey, soft bullshit. It's not for me, and will never be."

The blonde put his fist in front of Izuku's face to prove his point, and to somewhat scare Izuku off on his thoughts. The freckled boy had other plans, instead, his hand made its way to Katsuki's, and kneaded his knuckles gently, all while giving the blonde a determined look.

"How do you know it's not for you when you've never had it? Besides, Kacchan, you still view me as that fragile middle-schooler that you used to bully, don't you?"

Katsuki growled in response, but he didn't retract his fist from Izuku. The freckled boy continued talking and kneading the other's knuckles.

"I'm stronger now, not as strong as you but I'm getting there! Besides, I'll be there to snap you out if you try anything-"

In the middle of speaking, Katsuki's speech starts to register in Izuku's head, making him cut his current speech short as he sorts out the newly recognized information. He stood there for a minute, earning a raised eyebrow from Katsuki.

"W-wait, umm, Kacchan? Why did you talk about that instead of just telling me you don't feel the same?"

Katsuki grunted and sighed raspily.

"Look, Izuku, I don't fucking know. But yeah, having you around is actually damn good, being so nice and shit. I view you as my second chance at.. whatever! And I don't want to screw it up! Just! Seeing you smile because of me makes me feel like shit! Good shit, I mean!"

Izuku stood there and eyed him, and he looked shell-shocked by the blonde's words.

"You're warm when I touch you, and that's fucking nice. You care so damn much about me despite the shit I made you put up with. And most of all, you're too fucking cute! Especially when you sleep and drool like an idiot!"

Suddenly, Katsuki went up and sat down at Izuku's side of the table, and grabbed the freckled boy by his shoulders and pulled him towards the blonde until their bodies collided, then Katsuki wrapped his arms around Izuku tightly, and rested his head on the freckled boy's shoulder; Izuku was still frozen and shell shocked.

"But y'know what? I don't think I deserve it! I have to earn it. I have to earn your forgiveness first! You said you forgave me, but that means jackshit if it's just that, like some 'Get out of jail free' card! It felt like some shitty cheat code, so I have to work for it first so it'll feel like actual forgiveness!"

Izuku snapped out his shell shocked stupor and registered what was happening; Katsuki was hugging him, so he reacted on impulse and hugged the blonde back. Now Izuku had to listen to Katsuki and catch up since he wasn't able to due to his state earlier.

"Only after I've worked for it will I feel that I've won something worthy for myself, like your crazy friendship. Besides, you being my friend, is actually too damn much already. I would've been content as your 'forgotten ghost in the past' or some other metaphorical crap like that, but you had to have other plans, huh?"

Katsuki finished and patted Izuku on his head before going back to his seat. Before he could, Izuku grabbed Katsuki's wrist to keep him there.

"Ah! Well.. Look, Kacchan, you're changing your ways for me, that's a lot already! So much! I never knew that you would care so much for me after what I did! You have earned it, Kacchan! I never thought you'd be my friend again, especially after you bullied me.. but here we are! I've always wanted to be your friend, so of course I had to have 'other plans'!"

Izuku started inching his hand from Katsuki's wrist to the palm of his hand, gently kneading the blonde's fingers to relax him. Katsuki's gaze rested on his hand that Izuku was massaging.

"I had to do something like that just for us to become buddies, huh? I was the fucking problem, not you."

Izuku sighed at Katsuki's statement and continued massaging the blonde's fingers. Later on, Katsuki would part his hand from Izuku's, the latter softly sighing to himself at the loss of contact.

"Kacchan, remember that day when I came to your house? That day when you thought I was still dead?"

Katsuki nodded with a hum.

"I was actually there to tell you to leave me alone or I will tell your parents and the police, and also to file for a restraining order."

Katsuki's eyes went wide, but then settled a few seconds later. He huffed afterwards.

"Then what changed your crazy, damn mind? Sounded like a great fucking idea to me."

"You got scared, and ran off to your room. Normally, you'd yell at me and get angry, but that happened.."

Izuku fidgeted with his fingers and laughed sheepishly at Katsuki, who in turn, gently patted the freckled boy on his head.

"Well no shit, you were supposed to be dead! I thought I was seeing some kind of fucking zombie or something."

Izuku looked at Katsuki as he patted him, and smiled, which caused the tips of Katsuki's ears turn a bit red; Izuku shook it off as seeing things.

"There were numerous times in middle-school that you hurt me so much, remember? Like that time in the shed? You beat me up so badly I hurt and bled all over and I couldn't move. When you saw me the next week though, you got angry when you saw me alive. I knew you didn't beat me up so bad for me to die. Well, the doctors told me, I mean.. their diagnosis and stuff.."

Katsuki remained silent at that, and looked pensive as well. Izuku saw the expression on Katsuki's face, which was a very rare, if not possible sight, so the freckled boy hugged him in response.

"Kacchan, no need to beat yourself up over it. Please don't. It's.. the past. Leave it there and learn from it!"

Izuku released Katsuki from his hug and beamed at the blonde, to which the latter responded by squinting his eyes at Izuku and by violently ruffling his hair.

"Who said I was beating myself up?"

"You looked like it."

Katsuki flicked the other's nose in response, making Izuku elicit a mock "ow".

"Just shush.. I get your point. I still don't consider myself forgiven."

"I do!"

The blonde grunted something and went back to his side of the table. The two stayed silent for a while; Katsuki stared out of the window, and looked contemplative. Izuku, on the other hand, was playing around with his chopsticks.

"But Kacchan.. do you really view me like that?"

Izuku asked, breaking the silence. Katsuki tore his attention from the window to Izuku, and pointed at him.

"How about this? I'll tell you how I definitely feel as soon as school starts again, just don't bring this shit up again for now. It's distracting."

Izuku nodded.

"Okay.."

Katsuki huffed and crossed his arms, and from the corner of his eye, he could see their order leaving the counter.

 _Food. Fucking finally._

"And sort out your own damn shit as well. Don't mistake that feeling for another, got that?"

"Mmhmm.."

Katsuki hummed in response, and watched the waiter with their order as he tapped his fingers against the table, getting impatient.

"But.. will you stay with me? I want to stay with the new Kacchan."

Izuku said to Katsuki with pleading eyes, the kind that made the freckled boy look like a puppy asking for food; the blonde blinked and rubbed at his eyes, but he could feel the tips of his ears flush again for the upteenth time.

 _Stupid traitorous shits. Why don't you just fucking blow up?_

"Who said I was going anywhere, hah?"

Katsuki poked Izuku as his reply, and a few seconds later, their order arrived, which are two bowls of ramen and some appetizers. Katsuki dug in as soon as his bowl was served in front of him, wolfing down the contents hungrily yet not in a manner that would result in noodles and soup spraying all over the table. Izuku took his time, taking in small bites of noodles and sips of soup in-between watching Katsuki eat. He smiled to himself.

 _Thank you for staying, Kacchan._

* * *

 **Reviews are always welcome! Constructive criticism is also welcome!**

 **Until next time.**


	8. At Izuku's

**A short chapter full of fluff. Do enjoy.**

* * *

Once the two were done eating at the ramen joint, Katsuki did good on his word and paid for everything, then the two walked out of the ramen house, the blonde accompanying Izuku on the way back to his apartment. Izuku chatted animatedly with Katsuki, rather ecstatic with having the blonde by his side; the freckled boy mainly told the blonde about his nightmare, which made him release a few tears somewhat, which then made Katsuki put an arm over his shoulders, as if being protective and supportive.

"It's just a fucking dream. Stop that. I won't do that to you. Never again."

The blonde's words made Izuku sob even more, and he hugged him in response, wanting to feel secure with Katsuki by his side; he couldn't believe still that this was the same Katsuki Bakugou that told him to jump off the school roof before. Izuku clutched at the blonde like a lifeline, and Katsuki somewhat reciprocated with the same arm draped over the freckled boy's shoulders pulling him closer, and the other hand patting his fluffy and curly hair.

 _Your hair should be a pillow._

After that moment, Katsuki walked Izuku up the steps of the latter's apartment. Once they've reached the door, Izuku knocked at the door, then he looked at the blonde and smiled warmly.

"Kacchan, would you like to stay and hang out for a while?"

Katsuki flinched at the question, Midoriya Inko's distrust of him coming to mind.

"Would your mom be okay with it? I don't think she trusts me."

Then the door opened as if on cue, revealing Midoriya Inko. She smiled at Izuku and at Katsuki, yet the blonde can tell it waned a little when it got directed at him.

"Izuku! How was it?"

"It was great, mom! Kacchan bought me lunch!"

Izuku hugged his mother with much fervor since he apeared to be happier than when he left the house. Inko looked at Katsuki, and smiled at him, humming in approval.

"I should go."

Before Katsuki could walk down the first flight of stairs, Izuku latched onto his wrist and yanked him back.

"Wait! Mom, can Kacchan stay for a while? I want to hang out with him some more."

Izuku beamed at his mom, then he directed it at Katsuki, who stopped trying to go down now. Katsuki used to draw satisfaction from seeing Izuku beat up and crying, now he hates that, and he takes pride at making Izuku smile now.

"I trust him, mom. Please?"

He heard the other boy's hushed plea to his mother. Inko caved in at that.

"Alright, Izuku. Now come in, you two."

Inko stepped aside to let the boys through. Izuku then yanked Katsuki inside with him, ignoring his protests of being manhandled, but he let the freckled boy do so anyway. Izuku dragged him towards his room, now somewhat barren and empty save for a laptop on the desk since everything is now at his dorm.

At the back of Midoriya Inko's mind, she's still wary yet noticed how happy Izuku looked with Katsuki.

 _Izuku knows what he's doing. He's a big boy now._

* * *

At Izuku's room, said boy was sitting on his desk chair while Katsuki lied down on his bed, arms over his head and staring absent-mindedly at the ceiling; due to his position, his shirt lifted up a bit as well, showing the lowermost portion of his abdominal muscles. Izuku caught a glance of it, which he flushed madly at as some thoughts made it to his head.

 _I-I know Kacchan is attractive and all but that is a very inappropriate subject to think of!_

"-zuku. Hey, freckle face."

"U-uh- what? Yes, Kacchan?"

Katsuki was already sitting up on the bed, apparently talking to Izuku as he monologued inside his head. The freckled boy straightened up his posture as he sat on the chair, waiting for Katsuki's question again.

Instead, the blonde walked up to him and pinched his cheeks, which he grinned at in his own Bakugou way.

"You still have baby fat on your cheeks. Makes you look like a big baby."

Izuku pouted at Katsuki playfully.

"Kacchan! That's mean!"

"It was a compliment, freckle face."

Apparently, Katsuki has thought of a new nickname to call Izuku, since he's grown tired of 'Deku', even though it's the freckled boy's hero name. Izuku smiled warmly at him along with a light blush that decorated his cheeks.

"Is 'freckle face' my new nickname now?"

"Yeah, got a problem with that, freckle face?"

Izuku laughed at the nickname, since it sounded more affectionate that insulting to him, especially since it's coming from Katsuki. Grinning, Izuku got up from his chair then tackled Katsuki flat on the bed, hugging him tightly and affectionately. The shorter boy had wrapped his arms around Katsuki's upper torso while his head rested on the blonde's shoulder.

"No problem at all, Kacchan!"

Izuku lightly laughed afterwards, nuzzling at Katsuki's neck. Knowing that Katsuki hasn't moved his arms from the side and around him yet, he partly separated from him, hovering over the blonde.

"No hug for me?"

Izuku said playfully with a mock pout, making Katsuki's heart do cartwheels at the adorable sight of green, doe-like eyes, slightly puffy cheeks of baby fat, and a mouth fixated downwards, all looking at him playfully. Groaning, he got one hand on Izuku's back and pulled him down to him, then wrapped his other arm around the freckled boy afterwards. Izuku let out a happy sound and hugged the blonde tightly again.

"You make me so happy, Kacchan!"

"Shush it with the sappy shit, freckle face."

They stayed like that for five minutes, taking in each other's warm company. Afterwards, Izuku told Katsuki about this new game called Garry's Mod that Todoroki showed him then gifted him after he liked it.

 _"So many possibilities in this game, Todoroki! Why'd you like it, though?"_

 _"It's a non-linear sandbox, I can do what I want. But mostly I liked it because I saw a ragdoll model of Endeavor and there's a map called 'Ragdoll Slaughter'. It's very therapeutic actually. I haven't felt so satisfied in a long while."_

Katsuki scoffed at the story since it involved Todoroki. Regardless, the blonde seemed to like the game somehow so they played a local online session with each other, one that would last up til nighttime.

* * *

"Kacchan! Stop dropping barrels on me- WHY'D YOU SPAWN HEADCRABS IN FRONT OF ME?! Nonono- Kacchan! No fair!"

"Quit yer whining, freckle face. You said I can do what I want here."

Their current game session devolved into one of "mutual" spamming of things, mostly from Katsuki's end who spammed things from explosive barrels, zombies, aliens, to tanks, at Izuku, who whined for the most while of the blonde's trolling.

"Kacchan! Again with the Striders- WHY'D YOU THROW A RAGDOLL OF ALL MIGHT AT ME?!"

Izuku groaned at his dead character's screen, then resting his head on the keyboard, still groaning in annoyance. Katsuki chuckled at Izuku's state, having a real kick out of it; he saw it as "harmless bullying/trolling" and was just doing it for fun. He didn't want to hurt Izuku for real anymore, he's done with that.

Izuku turned his resting head to Katsuki, who was staring at the computer screen with a somewhat pleased smile on his face, looking honestly happy. His chuckle further reinforced his emotions as well; Izuku's frustration slowly melted away at seeing Katsuki happy. Sighing, he straightened himself up on the chair and started playing again, now thinking of playing Katsuki at his own game; spamming.

Izuku started by getting the All Might ragdoll that Katsuki threw at him earlier, then throwing it at the blonde's character, killing him instantly; Katsuki flinched in shock at the sudden death.

"What the fuck?!"

"Gonna get you back at your own game, Kacchan!"

Izuku stated in a sing-song voice, then he spawned a tank on top of Katsuki's now-respawned character, killing him again.

"Deku!"

The nickname drew Izuku's attention to the blonde, who had a mortified expression on his face now, apparently not liking that nickname he gave to the freckled boy.

"Shit, Dek- I mean Izuku! I didn't mean that, alright?"

Izuku found the moments of Katsuki being apologetic still so new, so fresh, and so surprising, that he never grew tired of them. He smiled warmly at Katsuki, who was still trying to apologize.

"It's okay, Kacchan. Besides, it's my hero name!"

Katsuki settled on hearing that, and he looked back at his screen, now calm.

"Right.."

But when he saw that his character spawned inside the tank, which repeatedly spawn-killed him, he started raging again.

"What the everloving fuck?!"

Izuku giggled at the blonde's predicament.

* * *

Eventually, the two got called for dinner, so they shut down the game and went to the dining area promptly, meeting Inko. As they sat down and looked at the food prepared in front of them, bowls of Katsudon, Katsuki snorted.

"I know, Kacchan. It's like you! Katsudon! Katsuki!"

"Tch, do I look like food to you?"

Inko watched the two's playful banter, and she looked happy with how their relations turned out.

"Just talking about the Katsu, Kacchan."

"Yeah, I'm victorious, alright."

Katsuki thanked Inko for the food then he was the first to get a spoonful of the katsudon. Once he tasted it, he looked very impressed.

"This is so fu-.. good."

Katsuki nodded at Inko, then continued eating the bowl of Katsudon, very much liking it. Inko looked delighted at the blonde's word, and so was Izuku.

"Thank you, Katsuki. It's Izuku's favorite. I make it almost all of the time, especially when he pays me a visit."

Katsuki stopped eating for a moment, and he looked as if an idea formed in his head. He smirked.

"Huh. Alright."

The blonde nodded at Inko again, then he ate again, really liking the food. The three ate in silence save for the clattering of utensils against the ceramic bowls, and once they're finished, Inko spoke in a delighted tone.

"I'm so happy you two are together again. Especially after what happened between you two."

Izuku flushed red at his mother's words, apparently thinking of another type of "together". Katsuki didn't look fazed, and his face looked neutral, the intended meaning in his head.

"That was my fault, Miss Midoriya."

The blonde gave a glance towards Izuku, who was still staring at his empty bowl, red faced. Then Katsuki looked back at Inko's gaze.

"I'm gonna make it up to Izuku. You can count on that."

Katsuki then glanced at the kitchen clock, and it read about 8pm. Cursing under his breath, he stood up from his chair, and bowed a little at Inko.

"Thanks for the dinner. It was really good. But I gotta get going, the ha-.. my mom might shout at me again, ugh."

Inko stood up from her seat and smiled warmly at Katsuki. Izuku also followed suit, then the two Midoriya's escorted Katsuki up til the staircase, the chilly night air tingling their skin, in a good way.

"Thanks for having me. C'ya, Izuku."

The blonde patted at the curly haired boy's shoulder and started to descend the flight of stairs, heading home.

Inko and Izuku then talked about Katsuki until they went to bed, and how he differed now from before. They found it nice to compare and contrast the then and now.

* * *

 **I hope this was worth it due to its short length. Thanks for reading as usual.**


	9. Memories

**SO! AN ABSOLUTELY LATE UPDATE! Sorry for not doing so since I had responsibilities to attend to, I lacked motivation, inspiration, and ideas. Well anyway, I got this one out. Apologies for the long wait.**

 **PS - This is the second to the last chapter.**

* * *

The school year went by rather fast, and by now it's just a few days until December hits. It's Yuuei's holiday break, and the country is completely coated in white snow around this time of the holidays, and it makes a great excuse for staying indoors. All of the students are in their dorms, doing whatever things they could while inside the warm building.

But most notably, it has been a number of months since Izuku and Katsuki outed their feelings about each other, and none of the two have spoken about it ever since, the confessions in the back of their minds. It didn't change anything in their relationship, however; they're still the pair of best childhood friends Class 1-A knows; Izuku and Katsuki would do things together most of the time, like sparring sessions or homework helps in the case of Izuku if he needs them.

For the usually volatile blonde, there are only two people that are able to make him show his gentle side, and they are Eijirou and Izuku. Eijirou was able to get along with Katsuki thanks to his patience and literally hard skin that can withstand the blonde's explosions, then he has his hard head, which doesn't affect the redhead with the blonde's normally piercing words. And there's Izuku because of their.. history. But it's all good now, he's mending what he'd messed up back then, and they're best friends.

And speaking of the volatile blonde, he's in Eijirou's room, tutoring the redhead on his English supplementary. It infuriates him that the redhead has a hard time understanding certain things, but he deals with it because he believes Eijirou is worth putting up with; he's shown his worth to the blonde.

Said redhead is lying on his bed, scratching his head out of confusion while staring at his English workpaper.

"This is hard."

He whines at the blonde who's sitting adjacent to him, legs crossed on the bed. He groans, and points at something on the paper.

"Is everything about you thick? Just associate these symbols with a certain sound, like Kanji! Hell! This is easier than fucking Kanji!"

Bakugou growls while repeatedly jabbing at the paper, staring with furrowed eyebrows at Kirishima. Then the redhead grabs his hand and directs it away from his workpaper.

"Dude, keep doing that and I won't have a workpaper to work on!"

Eijirou chuckles while leading the blonde's hand away. Once done with doing that, he looks at Katsuki with a smile, then he looks at his workpaper, pointing at an assortment of English letters.

"So.. like this? A for.. apple? Oh! B for Bakugou!"

The redhead grins at his discovery, and he's soon swatted on his forehead by the blonde.

"How about A for asshat? But yeah, that's right. You're doing good."

Katsuki nods accordingly, pleased with the progress. In response, Eijirou grins and says a triumphant "yes!", clenching his fists victoriously. They proceed with the following letters for a few more minutes, with the blonde correcting Eijirou for mistakes or with approving grunts for correct associations. Then they reach M.

"M for.. Midoriya! Oh! Speaking of Midoriya, how're you two doing? He's your other best friend apart from me, right?"

 _Did Midoriya confess?_

Eijirou perks up and tears his attention from the workpaper in favor of Katsuki. The blonde sighs.

"We're doing fine. Nothing's happening between us, shitty hair. Now back to your English."

 _Oh._

Eijirou turns back to the workpaper with a pout, but only ten seconds in he looks back at Katsuki, slightly annoying the blonde.

"Midoriya likes you, you know? As in 'like-like'."

The statement took Katsuki by surprise because he wasn't expecting Eijirou to know that; He already knew that the curly haired boy liked him. He quirked an eyebrow at the redhead.

"Kirishima-"

"I don't hate him for that! Well.. sure, I still sorta like you, but it's not a reason for me to hate him. I'm not like that."

The redhead responded by flailing his arms in front of him in defense, thinking that his statement put Katsuki on edge or something. The blonde eases up at the mention of Eijirou liking him; he still remembers his confession, and he was just so confused and tongue-tied for words.

 _You're just a friend to me. A good friend._

So he goes to pat the redhead on his shoulders.

"Hey, chill out. I was just gonna ask how you knew that. But it's good that you don't hate him. The little squirt's under my protection."

Eijirou lets out a surprised noise at Katsuki's statement.

"Pfft. Like Midoriya needs protecting. He can handle himself alright.. just gotta avoid breaking bones is all."

Then Katsuki's question registers in the redhead's mind. He raises his pointer finger and grins a little on realizing.

"Oh! He told me back in the ramen house. Remember that? It was just a few days after I confessed to you."

Eijirou chirped, but then his grin drooped a little at the mention of his failed confession. Katsuki noticed, and just responded with a nod and a pat to his shoulder, which lifted the other's spirits up a bit.

 _I know.._

But Eijirou didn't understand the whole protection thing, given that Izuku is rather strong with a powerful quirk. So he went to ask.

"Is the protection a middle-school thing? You did say he was.. bullied. But how? He has like, a powerful quirk!"

Katsuki just groaned at Eijirou's statement.

"There's a lot of things you don't know, Kirishima.."

And on hearing that, Eijirou shut his lips and sat crossed-legged beside the blonde, eager to listen. Katsuki raised his fingers, and retracted his pinkie.

"First of all.. he was born quirkless. How he got his quirk, I can't fucking tell you, got that?"

Eijirou nods, understanding. Then Katsuki retracts his ring finger.

"Second, yeah, he was bullied.."

Eijirou's eyes widen a little and gasps quietly at that.

"By who? Or.. just in general?"

Katsuki nods.

"Yeah, he was bullied in general. But most of it was.. by me.."

The blonde's posture starts to arch, and he brings up a hand to his face, somewhat covering it. His voice seemed to have started to break as well due to his emotions coming up.

"That little shit said he would surpass me! Or even be by my fucking side as another pro-hero! He's quirkless, Kirishima! His stupid, unrealistic view on his life pissed me off.. I thought beating him up would send him back to reality.. and it got so fucking bad that I.. made him jump off the school roof and he.."

And here Katsuki starts tearing up angrily, soft sobs mixed with angry grunts; angry at himself.

"I crossed a line.. what kind of fucked up asshole would do that, Kirishima? A villain, that's who.."

Katsuki cries, punching the mattress below him for measure. Then Eijirou comes up to the blonde and starts patting his back, trying to soothe him.

"Hey, Bakugou. Calm down, now. That's the past.. Midoriya survived-"

And on an angry impulse, Katsuki grabs Eijirou by his shirt collar and shoves him against the wall.

"He died, Kirishima! It's just through sheer fucking luck that some special doctor was making rounds and revived him!"

Katsuki's angry intensity slowly waned as he spoke, until he's reduced to crying on Eijirou's shoulder. The redhead, still being supportive, pats him on the back again and hugs him with one arm.

"Well.. that's good.. and I guess that since you're best friends.. you're making it up to him, fixing things. Villains don't fix things, Bakugou. Besides, you not going with The League just proves you're not."

Eventually, Katsuki's sobs stop and he separates himself from Eijirou, and he wipes at his tears with his wrist. He frowns at the redhead.

"All this shit you say, Kirishima."

"Just trying to help a bro out!"

Kirishima holds his hands up in defense, still smiling at Katsuki, who scoffs and waves him off. The blonde goes back to their homeworks, and beckons Eijirou forth to finish them. He doesn't move.

"Maybe you should go see Midoriya? Hang out with him?"

Eijirou shrugs. Katsuki was about to protest, but he shoots it down since he could see a benefit in visiting Izuku. So he just crosses his arms.

"And your pitiful homework?"

"Aizawa said it's due next week so.. I got time!"

Eijirou replies, and starts grabbing his papers in front of Katsuki to organize and put away already. Katsuki grunts and stands up from the bed.

"Fine. I'll help you again tomorrow."

The blonde walks towards the door, but before he could get out, Eijirou stops in front of him and holds out his fist in front, grinning.

"See you tomorrow?"

Katsuki eyes Eijirou's held out fist, and a little grin forms on his mouth, and he reciprocates the fist bump and heads out. Eijirou grinned even more, and starts waving the blonde farewell.

"Thanks Bakubro! Have fun with Midoriya!"

"Yeah.."

Katsuki nods and says quietly at Eijirou before shutting his door, and heads towards Izuku's dorm which is a few floors below.

* * *

Katsuki knocks three times on Izuku's door, then he remains standing there, thinking about how to spend his time with the curly haired boy.

 _Yeah, some time with the idiot should be good._

"Oh! Coming! Just a sec!"

Izuku's voice rang through the door, followed by the thudding of footsteps that got closer and closer as the boy got closer to the door. Izuku fumbled around with the doorknob before being able to open it widely, seeing Katsuki. The curly haired boy smiles.

"Kacchan! What brings you here? Uh, don't you have a study session with Kirishima?"

"He pestered me to go see you, so I'm here. Gonna let me in or what?"

Izuku's just dressed in his light green t-shirt that says "T-shirt" in Katakana, and some black sweatpants. He steps aside, still smiling, to let Katsuki step inside his All-Might laden room. Once the blonde is inside, Izuku closes the door gently, and Katsuki sits on the curly haired boy's bed, with said boy sitting beside him.

"Well, Kacchan.. what do you plan on doing?"

Izuku asks the blonde, who responds by looking at him with a gentle gaze, yet his brows are furrowed.

"Got any new games?"

And Izuku lights up, eyes widening at Katsuki before he goes to his gaming console and grabs a few game cases on top of it. Once he has them, he goes back to Katsuki and lays out the cases in front of him; arcade games and a shooter that Kaminari let him borrow.

"I have these. Wanna try them out?"

Katsuki grunts, and nods with a smirk. He taps at the shooter game's box.

"I'm so gonna beat you."

* * *

Hours later into the night, and well into the final game Izuku brought out, Katsuki has beat Izuku in every single game they've played. Whether they're competing against kills of each other or competing in regards to the best score of each level, Katsuki aces them all.

However, for this certain level in one of their one-on-one matches, they're at a tie for their score, and only have a few seconds remaining. Whoever kills each other first, will win for this level.

"I will beat you this time, Kacchan!"

"No fucking way! You'll be the one to die, Deku!"

 _The way Katsuki spoke seemed to trigger some memories of him and Izuku. He spaces out in shock, those moments appearing right before his eye_ _s as a flashback._

 _ _If you want a quirk so damn badly, just throw yourself off the fucking roof and hope you get one in the next life...!__

 ** _ _DIE!__**

 _"_ _Wait!_ _N_ _o!"_

 _Katsuki screams as a vision of Izuku jumping off the roof of their elementary school building comes to his vision, followed by bursts of the scene afterwards; Izuku, head burst and bloodied, and notably dead._

 _Meanwhile_ _in the real world_ _, Izuku is able to one-shot Katsuki while the blond spaced-out, and the round ends, with Izuku as the victor. The curly haired boy jumps in glee at his victory,_ _winning by one kill over Katsuki, who had killed him many times prior;_ _Izuku's avatar teabags Katsuki's for added hilarity._

 _"Yes! I beat Kacchan at least this one time!"_

 _Yet Katsuki is still stuck in his vision,_ _amplifying his state of panic._ _He's currently seeing plenty of dead Izukus and what-if scenarios if he was never revived. They all disturbed him._

 _"_ _Deku!_ _"_

 _On hearing Katsuki's shout, Izuku realizes it's not about the game anymore. Surprised, he drops his controller and goes up front of Katsuki, who looked pained._

 _"Kacchan?"_

 _He starts shaking Katsuki from his shoulder, and after a little bit of doing that, to his surprise, tears start to roll down the blonde's cheek. Slowly, Katsuki snaps out of his vision, and slowly turns his head to look at the well and alive freckled boy. Izuku starts to worry._

 _"Kacchan? What's wrong?"_

 _Katsuki's eyebrows deepen as more tears went down from his eyes._

 _"You're supposed to be dead.."_

 _On hearing that, Izuku turns to his impulses. He goes to latch onto Katsuki, wrapping his arms around him and patting his back gently. Izuku rests his head on the blonde's shoulder, sighing softly. The blonde responds by hugging him back tightly, and they stay like that for a little while, with only Katsuki's ragged sobs being the ambience._

 _"I'm not dead, Kacchan. I'm alive."_

 _Izuku lifts his head off Katsuki's shoulder, and goes to look at the blonde's tear-wracked face._

 _"See?"_

 _He_ _smiles warmly at the blonde, and is surprised when Katsuki's hand lands on his head, and starts ruffling his fluffy hair gently._

 _ _Soft.. real..__

 _Katsuki starts to frown as he ruffled the other boy's hair, who laughed quietly because of it._

 _"That must've been the shittiest thing I've done to you, huh?"_

 _Izuku just frowns up at Katsuki, and ruffles back the blonde's hair, his frown turning into an amused smile._

 _"Your hair is soft, Kacchan."_

 _ _This is nice..__

 _Katsuki makes no attempt to swat his hand away, and just frowns at him._

 _"Don't change the subject, nerd. Answer me."_

 _Izuku sighs, but continues ruffling Katsuki's hair._

 _"Well yeah.. what you did was really bad.. but I'm ready to forgive and forget if you are. But I don't think I can forget.. because that is what drove you into um.. this? I wouldn't be able to ruffle your hair if that never happened.. I guess, every cloud has a silver lining?"_

 _Katsuki responds by intensifiying his ruffling of Izuku's ha_ _ir. Izuku makes an amused noise in response, and falls into Katsuki lap. The blonde is half-amused, and continues to ruffle the other's hair. He stops after a little while, and Izuku makes himself comfortable on the blonde's lap._

 _"So you could say that you wanted to die just for this shit?"_

 _Katsuki's wording made Izuku frown a little._

 _"I would've preferred it if we could've stayed friends from the very beginning.. when we were kids? That I didn't have to die just for us to be friends from your.. hatred of me."_

 _Izuku thinks of the moment Katsuki fell into the river, the moment that changed how Katsuki viewed him forever. Still lying on the blonde's lap, he reaches out towards his face with the same hand that he tried to help him up with. He tries to elicit a little smile._

 _"I just wanted to help."_

 _Katsuki just stares at the hand outstretched to him, thinking that Izuku is trying to provoke him again, but a little voice on the back of his head starts talking._

 _ _He's not trying to prove anything. He's your friend.__

 _ _...__

 _ _If he was trying to be better than you he wouldn't have jumped off that roof.__

 _On impulse, Katsuki grabs the hand and slowly twines his fingers with Izuku's, and he_ _presses their hands on his forehead, breathing slowly._

 _"_ _Being labeled a villain.. what a fucking disgrace. Idiots.."_

 _Izuku sits up from his position and goes to hug Katsuki with his free arm, humming pleasantly._

 _"No need to beat yourself up over it, Kacchan."_

 _Katsuki grunts in response, and he releases their hands before lightly flicking Izuku on the forehead with a frown._

 _"Tch. How about I beat you up instead?"_

 _On hearing that, Izuku grabs the box of a fighting game and shows it to Katsuki._

 _"You can try, Kacchan."_

 _Katsuki grins and grabs the game box from him, and he goes to eject the console's current disk and inserts the fighting game's in it. He grabs his controller and Izuku's, and tosses the latter to_ _the freckled boy_ _._

 _"Oh I will definitely beat you this time."_

* * *

 _The_ _pair_ _played games until past midnight, when they've tired each other out with Katsuki being the victor the majority of the time. After putting away what needed to be put away, Izuku goes to lie down on his bed while Katsuki stood over him, getting the last game box and putting it away before going back to his room._

 _"Kacchan? Aren't you tired?"_

 _Izuku yawns after speaking, and he rolls around on his bed_ _while still looking at the blonde. Katsuki smirks at the interesting sight._

 _"Yeah? What's it to you?"_

 _Izuku taps his opposite bedside. The blonde raises an eyebrow._

 _"Sleep here?"_

 _At the very mention of sleeping in the same bed with Izuku,_ _Katsuki thinks of storming out immediately, but then the confession on the back of his mind pops up to the front of it._

 _ _Should be a good time to sort this shit out. It's the weekend anyway.__

 _And Katsuki recedes to Izuku's offer, albeit a bit reluctantly._ _He slips into Izuku's All Might themed blanket while the other goes to turn off the lights. After that, Izuku goes into his own bed with Katsuki, feeling happy and lightheaded._

 _ _Sharing a bed with Kacchan..__

 _"Night, nerd."_

 _Katsuki says briefly, then ruffles Izuku's hair before turning his back on him. Izuku lets out a happy hum as he shuts his eyes._

 _"G'night, Kacchan."_

* * *

 **As usual, reviews are appreciated.**


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